


Just You and Me

by readingis4me



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abusive Parents, Angst, Bullying, Canon Compliant, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Self-Acceptance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:41:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 26,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28417047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/readingis4me/pseuds/readingis4me
Summary: The wlw Hogwarts romance I’ve been searching for my whole life. Mia and Leda, a muggle born and a pureblood, are forced together by their own loneliness when together they survive the troubles of boarding school and magic. This story takes place between the two wizarding wars (The girls are in the same year as  Charlie Weasley to give you an idea of the timeline).
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character
Kudos: 4





	1. Year 1 September: Arrival

Mia looked around herself, shocked nobody else in the group of twelve students was gasping at the sight of a firm, cobbled wall melting before their eyes. She frowned and composed herself by smoothing down her black robe and newly green tie. If she was going to live in the castle for the next seven years, Mia would have to grow used to the magic which naturally flowed through the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The gaggle of young children were led through the door, passed a comfortable room filled with couches, and marched down a corridor. The hall was lined by doors which were all flung open as a flurry of students sorted rooms and chatted amongst themselves.  
“How was your summer?”  
“Have you seen my cat?” Mia rubbed her neck, it was sore from craning her neck, darting around to catch every word and look in every direction.  
“Welcome to Slytherin.” The prefect at the head of their chain was saying, waving his hands to point out everything which they passed. “This is the common room, and your rooms will be all the way in the back.” The prefect turned back to face the front while continuing to talk over her shoulder.  
“Now remember, we’re Slytherins and so we have to stick together. Nobody else in this school will stick up for you.” Mia stared at the girl prefect, her mouth hanging in shook. She had been so focused on taking in the green light coming through the skylights of the common room that she missed hearing any instructions before the warning. The girl looked around to her new classmates, but none of them looked shocked. They nodded their head gravely.

The whole experience since finding out she was a witch had been surreal. Mia had been playing at the park with a couple of her friends from primary school when dinner time creeped on them suddenly. She begged her parents to stay with her friends but they had pulled her along as they walked through the winding streets, first to the shops for food, and then back to their home.

The key fiddled in the lock for a moment before Mia’s father, Richard, pulled the useless metal out with a huff of air and a quizzical look. He pushed the door and it swung open easily.  
“It was unlocked.” He whispered to Mia’s mother. He had tried to hide the worried look from his daughter but her ears pricked at the sound and the words came to her as clear as a shout.

A crash. Penelope dropped the bags of groceries as she passed through the hall. She stood by the door to the living room, staring. All the mother could do was point. She stammered, but no words came out of her mouth. Mia hung back as her father rushed to her mother’s side. He yelled. And the girl jumped, rushing to his side only to see a man with a long beard, it reached easily to his waist and was tucked into his belt which closed around a brilliantly blue dress.  
“Who are you? Out!” Richard cried, pointing to the door the family had just walked through. He stammered, angry one moment and confused the next as he saw the weird man in their perfectly normal living room.  
“I’m sorry to drop in so unexpectedly.” The man said, rising to his feet as he held out a hand for Mia to grasp. “My name is Professor Dumbledore. And you are Mia I presume?” His eyes twinkled over half moon spectacles. “Pleased to meet you.”  
Mia reached up uncertainty but was batted away by her father who grasped her shoulder tightly. He muttered under his breath and he heaved as his eyes began to bug out from his face.  
“I really am sorry.” The grey-haired man said again, looking up and finally taking in the shocked looks on both parent’s faces. “Nobody was home when I arrived so I let myself in. I hope you don’t mind that I prepared us some tea for while we talk.” He held out an arm to show the coffee table which was decked with all types of cookies and cakes, some which Mia had never seen before.

The family stepped forward. Almost as though under a spell they fell silent and sat around the strange man. The room was just as Mia had last seen it. Only the family’s finest china was laid out and steaming swirls rose from the tea pot at the center.  
“Tea?” The man held up a cup and smiled towards Mia. She nodded, unsure of what else she could do.  
“Great, and now we may begin. Mia, you are a witch.”

No sooner had Dumbledore arrived in her house than Mia was swept away into the wizarding world. Stuck at boarding school and unable to see her parents for months, she was all alone. The muggle born looked around the hall, hoping she could spot a couple friendly faces who could stand in for her old friends during her time at Hogwarts. But all the students were already turning to their neighbor and whispering quietly.

Mia plucked up her courage and plastered a smile across her face as she sidled up to a pair of girls directly to her right. Noticing the other girl step within ear shot, the girls stopped talking and glared daggers in her direction.  
“Hi, I’m Mia.” She stuck out her hand, eyeing it hopefully as she glanced at the other two girls.  
“I’m Rose Crabbe, and this Georgina Fawley,” The blond one said as she stuck out her hand. “Which family are you?” She looked at Mia quizzically, frowning as though she were working out a particularly complicated problem.  
“Oh, my last name is Bailey.” Mia said cheerly, glad to have the other girls respond. But her face fell immediately when Rose pulled her hand away as though just having it in the air beside Mia was dangerous. She wiped it against her flowing robes.  
“Do you know that name, Georgie?” She asked with a smirk.  
“I don’t think we do.” The two girls flounced away, picking up their pace, and Mia watched as their hair bobbed up and down in unison. She stared as she watched the two girls leave, unsure what she said had scared them away. She walked into the shared dorm room hesitantly. There was nowhere else to go in the small common room, and classes were starting the next day so Mia was determined to sleep and be prepared. Her parents always said: “A new outlook on life comes with well rested eyes.”

Mia didn’t dare speak as she saw Rose and Georgina whispering to the other girls who were giggling along side them. The other girls clung to each other, giggling, as though they had known each other their whole lives.  
The room was filled with dark furniture, the green hangings from the canopy beds the only spark of color. Mia gasped as she saw her own trunk already lined up at the foot of a bed in the far corner. She had left it down at the platform beside the train as directed and yet it was already placed at her side.  
Mia rummaged through her trunk as quickly as she could, throwing everything to the side before grabbing a small bag of toiletries and walking to the bathroom without saying a word. The door shut behind her, but it did little to block out the sound of the still laughing girls on the other side.  
“She must be a mudblood.” She heard as she leant against the wood. Tears pricked to Mia’s eyes, she didn’t understand what the other girls were saying but she heard the distaste in their voices.  
“I can’t imagine how a mudblood managed to be sorted into Slytherin.” Another girl said. “She must have tricked the hat.” All the other girls laughed. Mia pushed herself away from the door, wiping her hands roughly against her cheeks. She wouldn’t torture herself by listening to the gossip.

None of the slytherins looked at Mia as she followed behind them. Students filled the halls of the castle. The older kids were weary early in the morning and shook their heads at the students around Mia’s age who still looked around in amazement. Mia faltered in her steps, she gaped at a portrait of a woman dressed in purple who spoke with her neighboring portrait, a man in a tweed waistcoat.  
“What’re you looking at?” The woman barked, glaring at Mia and her hanging open mouth. “It’s rude to stare.”  
“Oh, I’m,” Mia whispered "sorry," The words came out garbled, too nervous to complete a full sentence. She looked around to see if the other students had noticed the moving paintings, but all the others barely spared her a glance. Mia began to run through the hall, the girls who she had followed from the dorm room were almost out of her sight and she was relying on them to find classes.

Even though the slytherins pointedly ignored her, they seemed to understand what was happening at Hogwarts and how the mysterious castle worked. She fell in step behind them, she walked lightly trying not to pull away the other girl’s attention. Mia vowed to following in the footsteps of the other girls. Maybe some of them had already known about magic, some wizards and witches had to be parents, Mia would just have to catch up with the others.

The doors to the great hall were swung wide open and the noise of hundreds of students eating spilled into the entrance hall as Mia stepped out of the dungeon. She looked around herself in amazement, spinning in place as she stared up at the enchanted staircases which reached from one side of the hall to the other like thin bridges. One boy was skipping down the steps without a care as they moved underneath him. He flung out his arms as he addressed the other boy who looked to be a first year along with Mia. Both the boys had flaming red hair and they fell into each other as the staircase jolted and met with the wall.

Mia pulled herself away from the entrance hall. The night before she had been too exhausted from the long train ride and from waving her parents good-bye to take in the wonderful castle. With a new smile plastered onto her face, Mia walked down the long row of tables to where she saw her roommates already piling food onto their plates.  
“Good morning.” She smiled at the girls as she seated herself beside them. They hadn’t been kind to her the night before but Mia would not give in. She was determined to make friends at the new school. The girl who had spoken with Mia the night before glared at her.  
“You’re not one of us. Sit somewhere else.” She laughed at Mia’s crestfallen face. The joy of seeing Hogwarts in daylight dissipated quickly.  
“I hear there's some blood traitors over in gryffindor.” The only other blonde girl said pointing over the heads of all the other students to point to the table on the far side of the hall. People were jumping up from their seats and making an uproar.

Mia curled her fists, feeling the sharp dig of her nails into her palm. She clamped her mouth tight and blinked twice. Her breath under control the girl grabbed a piece of toast to stuff into a pocket before rushing from the hall. In the entrance she ran into a girl wearing a yellow tie, knocking the other to the ground. But Mia barely glanced at her in her hurry to leave the hall. The swarm of bodies all running into the hall all pushed against her, but Mia was thankful for her slim frame as she wound between them and finally ran up the stairs to the classrooms.


	2. Year 1 September: Alone

Leda pushed herself up from the ground, already turning to look for the girl who had knocked her over. A retort hung on her lips but died when she noticed the girl had disappeared into the crowd. She rolled her eyes, sighed and dusted off her cloak. People had to pay attention to where they were going.

  
She continued into the great hall and her stomach rumbled when the aroma of warm bacon and sweet scones wafted across her face. Leda slid into a seat beside the other hufflepuffs who had all left the dorm while she stood in the shower, sulking in its warmth. Leda hadn’t walked with them, hoping instead that she could wait a moment in the entrance hall by the dungeons. All of the friends which Leda had known since childhood were in Slytherin, forced to play together by their parents and superior blood status. Leda had peered over the bustling crowd, watching for glimpses of Rose Crabbe's blond hair and green tie. After waiting for five minutes she had been forced to give in and find her dorm mates.

  
“Hey Leda,” One of the already sitting girls said, waving the pureblood down as she noticed Leda sink into the seat. “Did you meet Henry?” She pointed to a pale boy who was looking around the great hall in amazement and waving his hands wildly as he spoke to the group of five other students. “He only just found out he’s a wizard. He was just telling us about how weird Hogwarts is compared to his old school.” The girl laughed and turned back to Henry.

“They shouldn’t let such clueless people into the school.” Leda murmured back, frowning. Henry was taking up all the attention at the table, the others listening closely as he talked about automobiles driving him to school every day and wondered about the horseless carriages.

“What else should he do? The muggleborns can’t help it.” The girl whispered back, nudging Leda harshly in the side.  
“Well if we didn’t let in their type of filth then we could probably learn more and not waste time on simple things they should already know.” Leda parroted back quickly, recalling the yelling and waving arms of her parents as they argued.  
“Do you want to say that again?” Another girl, across the table from Leda glared. She had been listening to the boy but turned her head to hear the last half of their whispers. Leda looked at her astonished. At home everybody had to be polite and on their best behavior, nobody was allowed to raise their voice or speak so aggressively.  
“I just said, if we didn’t let in the mudbloods-” Leda’s explanation was cut short with a strangled cry. Everybody around them looked between her and Henry, glaring. The boy who had interrupted Leda spoke slowly.  
“You can’t say that.” He glanced at the other students for backup before continuing. “That’s so mean. Henry didn’t mean to be a muggleborn, or a wizard.”  
“Well they’re useless to the wizarding world.” Leda retorted. None of the other people were agreeing, they only looked shocked, as though she were crazy. “My parents told me.” She trailed off uncertainty and let the words hang in the air.

  
“Yeah, well, I heard that without muggleborns everyone would have to marry their cousins like you purebloods.” Another girl spit out. She hadn’t been in the same dorm room as Leda the night before, so she was probably a second year. Leda looked around. All the other students were nodding in agreement, glaring at her. The pureblood opened her mouth a couple times, hoping words would rise to the surface.  
“You can’t seriously believe everything your parents tell you?” A girl with light brown hair said, laughing. As Leda watched the mockery she saw shades of pink creep into the roots of the girl’s hair and begin to flush through the dark hair. Leda couldn’t help her eyes widening as she took in what must have been a metamorphmagus changing. “You are not that gullible and stupid.”

All of the other kids were staring at Leda, holding their breaths to catch whatever response she would bite back with. Leda huffed and the pureblood threw her fork to the table. She grimaced as the metal bounced on the table, glanced at the high table where the teachers were sitting, but nobody had noticed the small outburst and gratefully Leda rushed away from the table.

-

The entrance hall had thinned of the crowd and without anybody to follow, Leda spun on her heels. Classes were bound to start soon and she had no idea what her schedule would look like for the year, she had rushed from breakfast too quickly.

  
Rubbing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Leda turned to her left into the cool morning breeze of the Hogwarts grounds. At least she knew the first class of the day. The night before a couple prefects gave all the hufflepuff first years an overview of the school, but they also said the first class, with their head of house, would explain any questions. Leda pulled her cloak close to her shoulders and buried her face in the soft fabric as she marched through the dewy grass and foggy air.

  
Leda took gaping breaths, trying to calm herself down and calm her beating heart. She wiped at her eyes, pushing the tears away. At least nobody would notice her tears through her wet face when they all arrived in class, Leda thought to herself.

  
The pureblood witch hadn’t needed to worry. All of the hufflepuffs came into the greenhouses together, pulling off their cloaks in unison as they passed into the warm humidity. None of the other students spared Leda a glance, too busy with their own conversation and laughter to be distracted by just another face.

  
“Good morning class.” Professor Sprout closed the door behind her as she swept through the room and wandered to the front. Walking through the crowd of students took some time. The teacher stopped to speak with a couple students, laughing at a joke and waving them on before finally coming to the front desk which was covered in a thin layer of dirt.  
“Thank you for quieting down.” A sudden hush fell over the group of children and they all turned to face the front of the greenhouse. “I am very excited to have you all in school with us. And especially excited to have you in my own house. We are a family here at Hogwarts and so we must do our best to make it the best school, and home, it can be.” She smiled around the room, taking in all the eager and smiling faces staring back at her.

  
“Hufflepuffs are the house of loyalty and dedication. We are here to do the dirty work.” Professor Sprout laughed heartily, her face bouncing up and down as she took in the dirt all around her. “And we are also there for when our friends are in need.”  
Leda rolled her eyes. The Hufflepuffs who she had met thus far had been mean and judgemental, not at all to the ‘kind’ and ‘loyal’ people they were meant to be.  
“In our effort to make the whole school a family we have mixed classes for all other subjects. But this class you will have only with me. This is done to foster a feeling of understanding between me and you. I am always open to speak with you and everything you might have questions about. Everyone at Hogwarts is coming in with different amounts of knowledge. My office door is open, if you have questions about writing papers or about laundry, you can come no matter what.”

  
Leda muttered to herself. If a mudblood had to ask how laundry was done and waste Leda’s chance to do well in classes, then no fault would land with her. There was no reason for mudbloods to be invited to Hogwarts. She thought to write to her parents but dismissed the thought as she realized hufflepuff would also have to mentioned in her first letter home.  
“And with those final thoughts, let us begin.” Leda snapped her head back to watch Professor Sprout begin to walk through each piece of equipment which the students had lugged from their dorm rooms in the basement, across the lawn and to the greenhouse.

-

Leda shuffled her books, stuffing all of her supplies back into the leather satchel she carried. She might not have gotten along with the other hufflepuffs during breakfast, but during the course of the class, while all the other students had been laughing among themselves, Leda had vowed to befriend them.

  
“What’s next?” One boy said as he slung his bag over one shoulder and began to push open the door and hold it as everyone else walked behind him.  
“Transfiguration. I’m so excited.” The girl at his side spoke, she jumped up and down. Clearly unable to control her emotions. Leda opened her mouth, “I-” Another girl, the same person who Leda thought was a metamorphmagus, interrupted.  
“I’ve heard that Mcgonagall can become a cat! Do you think we could learn to do that?”  
“Tonks.” The other girl rolled her eyes, leaving Leda behind in the dark to what was clearly an inside joke.  
“Wha-” Leda opened her mouth, ready to ask.  
“Ms. Travers.” Professor Sprout yelled over the commotion of the students shuffling. “Could you come up to the front.”

  
Leda spun around quickly to face the professor, doing her best to smile through the tears which threatened to drip from her brown eyes. She was the only student left in the greenhouse, everyone else already clambering up the large hill back to the castle.  
“Yes, ma’am.”  
“I noticed you weren’t in the great hall during the end of breakfast. Is everything alright?”  
“Yes, ma’am.”  
“I hope that is truly the case. If you ever want to speak to me, my door is open.” Professor Sprout wore a thick green robe with a heavy trim. Patches around the collar still showed the original bright color, but the green had nearly turned to brown with all the dirt which had clearly layered on after years of use. Leda looked her professor up and down.  
“I will, if I think you can help.”

  
“Just know that I was also once in your shoes. Everyone here has once been a first year and will be happy to help. And being a hufflepuff is no easy task. We feel things greatly and our dedication can cause people to work too hard. Don’t let yourself fall too far.” Professor Sprout smiled gently down at the eleven year old, although she was not that much taller. “Now, you better run off to class. Here is your schedule.”

  
The professor flickered her wand and a piece of parchment rose from the desk and fluttered down into Leda’s outstretched palm.  
“Thank you ma’am.” Leda dipped her head and sprinted out of the green house. During the two hours class block, the sun had risen over the high towers of Hogwarts and the rays of light glowed as they shone and reflected against the glass panes. Another class of students were streaming through the doors and beginning to make their way towards the greenhouse and Leda.

  
At the front were some gryffindors, the house made clear by their disheveled robes and red ties which were knotted carelessly around their necks. One student had knotted their tie around their head so that it flapped across their face in the breeze. Leda rolled her eyes, stepping off the path so that she could avoid their grimy and germ-filled bodies. Behind the gaggle of gryffindors came the house Leda was supposed to be sorted into.

Leading the pack of slytherins was Rose Crabbe, Leda’s best friend since they had been tottering in diapers. Her hair was styled back with a hair band and it swayed along her back with each step. On her right hand side, where Leda was used to standing was Georgina. Leda scoffed, the other girl was an idiot, she could barely tell a cat apart from a kneazle.  
“Hey!” Leda called out, she couldn’t help herself. She hopped back onto the path and waved her hand above her head. The wind blew the words from Leda’s lips and she called again, raising her voice. Still Rose didn’t turn her head or acknowledge the shrill yell.

  
“Rose.” The name faltered on Leda's lips. This time the deliberateness of Rose’s indifference was clear. The slytherin spoke louder, bending over to speak directly into Georgina’s ear. Choking back a sob, Leda wiped her eyes and pulled her arms close to her chest. If the slytherins were also going to ignore her then that would be alright. Leda rushed past them. She had a class to attend anyway.

  
Only the last girl in the group, trailing a couple steps behind the other girls, waved. She grimaced at the glare Leda shot her way and stowed her hand in the pocket of her cloak quickly. How could a girl, who Leda had never met, make their way into slytherin instead of Leda Travers. The world was unfair.

-

Aside from two questions from a couple teachers, Leda had not spoken during the whole day. She had sat stiffly through all the meals, waiting for somebody to address her. The single time she had dared open her mouth, one of the boys had spoken over her. Dinner had passed much the same way to lunch and Leda drifted through the halls of the school on her own.

  
The common room was bound to be filled by students and Leda already had a couple hours worth of homework even after the first day. Leda sighed as her book bag, weighed down with half a dozen books, began to dig into her shoulder. The other hufflepuffs had fled from under the watchful eyes of the professors at the high table in the great hall to spend time in the dorm room. The pureblood rose to follow but none of the other kids looked her way, so she sank back into her seat silently. If they didn’t want Leda there then she wouldn’t intrude on their fun. As it was, she walked to the library to find a quiet alcove to sit and mope.

  
A small smile stretched across her face as Leda took in the empty tables amid the towering books of the library. Only a four seventh years had dared endure Mrs. Pince’s scowl so early in the year. Leda poured her books across the wooden table, scattering her supplies. One of the seventh years scowled in her direction and frowned at the loud noise. Leda shot him a look in return before resolutely facing away from the boy.

  
It felt as though time flew by. The books drew Leda, telling stories of incredible magic and the fantastical discoveries of past witches and wizards. So far her favorite class had been Astronomy, of course she still hadn’t met with the potions, charms, history or DADA professors yet. The stars, just small spots in the dark sky, looked so much closer through a telescope. They were reachable. And the stories their professor had told were filled with magic and excitement.

  
Leda remembered hearing the story of her own name for the first time. She had been curled up in bed. The hot chocolate sent up by the house elves was forgotten long ago and sitting cold on the bedside table as Leda burrowed into her pile of emerald bed covers. Leda had been a mortal woman, and she had fallen in love with the king of gods. Not only was Leda the mother of a demigod, but she was a queen in her own city. Leda was all powerful, and she was beautiful.

  
Shaking herself, the draft from the nearby windows blowing under her cloak, Leda was pulled back to the present. She was in school now, far from the comforts of her warm bed at home and especially far from her mother’s embrace and soothing voice. Leda wished her family didn’t need to hear the news of her sorting. There was always her little brother, Cepheus, who could still be in slytherin. But someone must have already sent an owl. Leda pulled a unused roll of parchment closer to herself and began to write.

  
She paused a couple times, all she wanted to say was vague and beside the point. The letter ended rambling and uncertain. Leda prayed that her mother would not mind. She looked it over, seeing the perfect cursive which a tutor had taught for three years. There was nothing more to be done. The letter would have to be posted eventually.  
“Thanks for saving us the seats.” Rose slid into the chair across from Leda. She winked.

  
“Rosey!” Leda perked up. The despair which came from writing her pureblood family dissipated as she saw her best friend.  
“Yes, Leda.” The slytherin dragged out the name, holding each letter, not using the pet name the two girls normally fell into. “Why are you not with us? Your little hufflepuffs have already given up on you, haven’t they?” Leda choked, looking between her former best friends and the girls on either side of her. She began to stammer.  
“I- No. They’re hufflepuffs.” Leda sneered, happy to have thought of an excuse, “Do you actually expect me to spend time with them?”  
“Ahhh. And you’re a hufflepuff.” Rose lifted a brow and waited patiently for the other pureblood to catch the meaning. Leda looked around herself, nobody else in the library paid any attention to the small group of first years.

  
“If hufflepuffs are beneath us, and you’re a hufflepuff…” Rose gave in, spelling out the idea. Uncertainly Leda began to shuffle her scattered supplies which were strewn across the table, and she stuffed everything into the leather satchel. “Thank you.” Rose’s voice was sickly sweet and high pitched as she grinned towards Leda’s retreating form. Leda felt her stomach flip, the shame settle into a tight ball at her center. She clenched around the feeling, holding the loneliness tight and not letting it shift from the slowly forming pit.  
“I had to go to the owlery anyways.” Leda stuck up her nose and turned away. Leda huffed once her face was safely hidden. She couldn’t stand up to the new slytherins. Leda finally closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Uncertainly she lowered her shoulders and stood up tall. If the girls didn’t let Leda be their friend, then she could still hold her place in the school.

-

Leda padded softly through the empty halls of Hogwarts castle. Her shoes clicked against the stone floor with each step and she cringed as the portraits interrupted their conversations to watch her pass. The old man in one painting frowned at the sight of her, unsure what a student was doing on their own.

  
“Young lady. Young lady.” A soldier hopped in the painting, a dark forest and unicorn behind him. When Leda looked over to him he continued talking. “Can I offer my assistance, young lady? Are you lost? My name’s Sir Cadogan.” He was jumping between paintings now, following Leda as she rushed through the castle and did her best to ignore him.  
She turned a corner, rushing down the stairs as she escaped his yelling. Leda clenched her fists, she wasn’t lost. Were exploring students in the castle really so extraordinary? Leda skidded to a stop as she heard the steps of more students wandering the halls just ahead. None of the portraits in that corridor were talking. Maybe because the other kids weren’t alone, Leda could hear them talking amongst themselves and she clenched her fists.

  
Tears pricked in her eyes, and Leda felt the castle beginning to spin under her as she leaned against the cold wall for balance. She could hear the students coming closer, they were turning the corner just a couple meters away. The anger holding tightly to the ball of shame loosened, the grip failing as she overheard the other’s laughter, and the pit in Leda’s center opened wider.

  
The door Leda tugged on stuck but she yanked a second time and it swung open on its creaking hinges. The room on the other side was dark. A sliver of light pieced the room, reaching from the high window to the desks at the back of the room. Leda held the sleeve of her cloak up to her mouth to cover herself from the floating dust.

  
The room had clearly not been used in years. The board at the front of the room was still covered in writing, the chalk spelling out nonsensical spells, numbers were added and subtracted at random on one side. The teacher’s desk, raised up on a dias like all the classrooms which Leda had already seen, was covered in papers. Chairs stood, stacked and lined up against the wall. They surrounded the center of the room where empty desks were still in their straight rows.

  
The door swung closed behind Leda, creaking on its hinges as it hit the door frame with a soft bang. Leda rushed forward into the center of the room, leaving the other students behind.

  
For a moment Leda was alone. She allowed herself to double over and the tears brimming in her eyes to fall free and lose. Big deep breath which shook her whole body became the only way to control herself. Leda tried to hold back, she held in the breathes and wiped her face dry. But each time she felt her body calm and the pit in her stomach started to refill, thoughts would flood Leda’s mind and again she would shiver and cry out.

  
Nothing had happened, Leda told herself firmly. She wasn’t in pain, there was no reason to cry or even to feel upset. Resolutly, wiping away her tears with the back of her sleeve, Leda perked up- only to hear laughter through the classroom door and suddenly her tears were back, just as fierce. They flowed quickly, dripping from her cheeks and beginning to wet the collar of her uniform. She sunk to the ground and leaned against the leg of a desk. The position was not comfortable. The metal dug into the girl’s back but she didn’t have the energy to hold herself up any longer. Leda pursed her lips, sitting up straight, and Rose’s face came floating into view as she pictured the dark eyes and small nose contoured into a disgusted frown. Leda slumped back down.

  
Leda held her head in her hands, wishing that the sinking feeling in her stomach would leave once and for all, that Leda could leave the room without worry. She grumbled to herself, cursing the hufflepuffs for judging her, for yelling at her while accepting the mudbloods. The bloody blood traitors. Leda laughed, smirking to herself as she noticed the wording.  
It was all their fault, and Rose’s fault and all the other purebloods. Leda balled her fists. The crying and sadness which had filled her so quickly ran dry and anger streamed in to fill the vacuum. The other students of Hogwarts were ignoring her, they were the ones who had sorted the houses. Leda would show them, she smiled to herself. It would all be fine.  
Pulling out a textbook and running her hand down the spine, Leda began to smile again. She would become the best student in her year. She could do it. She would show all of her supposed friends that she was in fact the best.

  
Cracking the book open, Leda pulled out a parchment and began to write vigorously on the assignment. At least she had found a quiet spot. At least she could relax against the grimy wall without having to check over her shoulder for leering slytherins or whispering hufflepuffs. Leda could do without the other students.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> I'm excited to introduce Leda, and finally have both leads take their place. I hope both girls grow into their characters. Hopefully you guys will tell me what you thought, both the good and the bad. I'm waiting on the edge of my seat for comments.
> 
> Lots o' Love,  
> Me


	3. Year 1 October: Converging

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!
> 
> Hope you're doing well! The girls see each other for the first time. We're getting closer to the fun stuff but their's still a long ways to go. When I say slow burn I really mean it.
> 
> Lots o' Love,  
> Me

Shuffling behind the other girls as they pushed and crowded each other to reach the head of the pack grew tiring after a month at Hogwarts. Mia sighed as she followed the others, the trek up from the dungeons across the hill and down the steep lawn to the greenhouses was long and cold in the early morning. The pureblooded slytherins walked slowly, so there was no rush for the muggleborn. She kept up easily although no one cared to look over their shoulder to keep her in view.

Mia’s time at Hogwarts had, so far, been uneventful. She would wake in her dorm room, each morning colder than the last as the Scottish winters began to creep in through the stone walls. And without a word to any of her fellow roommates, Mia would throw on the school uniform and follow them to the great hall where breakfast was prepared. Still none of the girls even glanced in her direction.

One day, Rose Crabbe spoke directly through Mia, to the girl sitting on her other side. The muggle born had looked around herself, certain that with all of the magic in the school she had turned invisible. But the theory was quickly disproven when hundreds of owls swooped through the room delivering the morning post. Mia had cried out when the owl on her left stabbed at her hand with its beak and begged for a crumb from her already buttered toast.

“I wonder what Sprout’ll make us do today?” Rose wondered, nudging the lucky pureblood who had wrangled their way to her right side. Mia rolled her eyes. She had done the class reading and knew dittany would be the topic for the day, but none of the other girls bothered opening their textbooks. The class was still only listening to lectures about plants and their uses, but at least the class was outside and Mia could look around while the professor babbled on at the front of the room.

“I bet it’s something awful like bubotubers or devil’s snare.” One of the girls groaned. Mia couldn’t tell who from her position at the back.  
“At least she doesn’t force us to talk with the blood traitors. I’m already worried their germs will get on me from being in the same room.” The slytherin’s refused to name the other houses, giving each of them heinous nicknames which Mia had picked up on quickly. Although she wasn’t certain why the gryffindors were called blood traitors.

Someone had mentioned they had fought for muggles in some war, but Mia found the gryffindor students just as rude as her slytherin house mates. They even more so, as they stuck their noses up in the air convinced that they were the knight in shining armor each girl at Hogwarts was eagerly waiting for.

The warmth of the greenhouse rushed through Mia’s layers of coat over sweater over shirt. She shivered at the warm breeze but fell happily into her seat against a window.  
“Thank you girls for your timely arrival.” Professor Sprout said as she ushered them to their seats and began her lecture. The purebloods, or Rose’s girls as Mia had begun to consider them, always timed their walk perfectly. They didn’t rush but spent just enough time in the cold air so that their cheeks were rosey pink as they entered the greenhouse with all eyes on them.

Mia let her mind wander as the class began. The reading had explained enough and there was really no reason for her to listen to it all over again from a dumpy old professor. A couple seventh years, Mia recognizing them immediately by their jaunty and easy walk, strolled across the school grounds. The morning at Hogwarts was quiet as everyone sat in their classes.

The groundskeeper, a tall burly man with a bushy beard covering half his face, stood against the forbidden forest. He appeared to be talking and waving his hands wildly about. But to whom, Mia could only guess because the looming shadow from the trees covered anything still visible from halfway across the Hogwarts grounds.

\---

“See you all on Thursday.” Mia’s attention jolted back to the greenhouse as she heard the commotion of all the students packing up their bags and beginning to talk. She hung back, waiting for the other slytherin girls to leave first so they wouldn’t notice her sneaking along behind.

The walk back to the castle was harder than the way to Herbology, the steep uphill tested Mia’s stamina as all the students clambered back up to the castle, only to face the hundreds of steps inside. But then the walk on the way to class took place while fog still rose from the lake and dew seeped into Mia’s nice shoes. She couldn’t decide which walk was worse, but nevertheless she complained under her breath.

Transfiguration was next. Mia enjoyed the class and the professor was wonderful. On the first day of classes Professor Mcgonagall had reprimanded Rose, with a single evening oof detention and taking away ten house points. Of course the girl deserved more for all the bullying and back talk, but Mia had been momentarily stunned by the old woman’s stern look.

Despite Mia’s love for the professor and the fantastical spells, Mia did not understand how any of the magic worked. Hogwarts had skipped adding common sense and explanations to their curriculum. Taping hay and hoping for the material to suddenly turn from the flimsy dull beige to a silver metal frustrated Mia. She could not pry an explanation of how it worked from any of the professors. They only responded with a quizzical glance and told Mia to try again and to encourage the spells to work their magic.

Mia’s wand hummed in her hand, and yet nothing happened as she tapped it firmly against the desk. She had been trying the same spell since the first day of classes and everyone else had moved on to large transformations between rolls of parchment and glass cups.

“Not so aggressive. Just imagine the hay changing.” Professor Mcgonagall whispered gently as she stalked through the class and winded between the tight rows of desks.  
“Hmm.” Mia groaned. She had been getting the same advice and she couldn’t do it. How could a piece of hay become a needle? They were complete opposites. Mia prodded at the hay once again and still nothing happened.  
“Alright Ms. Bailey. Maybe you should try taking this in steps. Could you at least turn it silver?” Mcgonagal turned her back, the maroon robes sweeping against the floor as she continued circulating around the classroom. Mia rolled her eyes, wishing she could return to her old classes of math and reading.

“Aww. Is the mudblood not able to perform magic.” A boy to Mia’s left leaned forward and pushed on her desk, jogging her books and work. “Come on. Show us what you can do.” The other slytherin’s all turned and leered as they watched expectedly.  
“Yeah. Mudblood. What have you got for us? Prove you’re actually a witch.” Rose squealed, laughing and taking charge of the room. Eyes bored into her from all directions and Mia felt her blood beginning to boil. The anger warmed her, rising in her body and flowing through her hands. The wooden wand fizzled and Mia nearly dropped it in shock before gripping it tighter.

“Mutatio.” She spoke firmly. The waver in her voice was gone as she straightened up under everybody’s gaze. The hay which hadn’t moved once, even after a month of prodding and poking, disappeared. In its place lay an ornate silver needle, the point glistening under the candlelight.

Mia smiled, she dared not grin, especially knowing Rose’s girls would pounce on any emotion which wasn’t pure dejection.  
“Well, that’s easy. You’re a couple weeks behind mudblood.” Rose said after a beat, the accidental magic taking her by surprise. Mia bit back a retort. Nothing she did could prove to the slytherins and anyone else in the castle that Mia was just as normal as they were.

She let her head fall to the desk, resting on her crossed arms as she exhaled. The needle was cold to the touch and truly metal. Mia reached out a hand to hold it gently. A spot of blood pooled at the tip of her finger as Mia stabbed it aimlessly into the pad of her hand. No sign of its hay origin was left behind.Intricate designs of spirals and swirls twisted down the needle, gathering at the eye. Mia prodded it again with her wand and it remained still. She couldn’t switch it back. Magic should be impossible Mia grumbled to herself.

\---

Why did the girls have to walk so slowly? Mia thought as she trudged behind them and counted her steps just for something to do. All she wanted was to find a seat and relax, not think about magic or classes for the rest of the day.

“Move it worm.” The group had stopped walking, halting in the middle of an archway.  
“Yeah, you’re in our way. You and your little mudblood.” Mia couldn’t see who Rose’s girls were taunting from where she stood.   
“But. but-” Came the stammered reply. They must have been a couple first years from another house.  
“But what? Come on. Scooch.” Rose stood tall above the other students and with her hands on her hips looked regal and strict.

“No. We can be here if we want. You don’t rule the school.” Another voice said, probably the other kid being taunted. Mia rolled her eyes, the students could just move to the side and the slytherins would go on ignoring them. She huffed in annoyance.

“I don’t? Let’s ask someone, shall we?” Rose smiled, a smirk stretching across her face, and she turned to face the other slytherins.  
“You don’t.” Mia said quietly, “Just walk past them. Let’s get back to the common room.” Mia slapped her hand up to her face and looked around the group wildly. Her stomach dropped as she realized she had spoken out loud.  
“You. You mudblood. You filth.” Rose turned on her heel and advanced on Mia. She held her wand out firmly, pushing it against Mia’s neck. “You don’t deserve to be here. You shouldn’t be in Slytherin and especially not at Hogwarts.”  
Mia stammered. She looked around the hall, to all the other students who wandered by, but nobody looked towards her. The purebloods began to laugh and a flush of red creeped up Mia’s cheeks.

“We don’t need your help, slytherin.” The muggleborn said from behind Rose. He smirked. “Come on.” He dragged his friend away and left Mia alone with her other housemates. Mia flinched, the frustration which had been bubbling since the start of the school year, dissipated. The other muggleborns weren’t struggling the same way Mia was forced to. The noise in the castle quieted as the corridors emptied. Mia was alone with the purebloods as they stared her down.

Rose’s girls and Mia stood still in the corridor. The paintings all around them had filled with subjects from around the castle, waiting eagerly for a fight to start. Rose’s wand wavered by Mia’s neck, and the muggleborn smiled as she took in the hesitation. She smirked, trying to appear aloof. But inside Mia could feel herself wavering.

The purebloods had already learned how to wield their wands, and spells eased from them with no effort. Mia pulled herself upright. She wouldn’t let Rose and her girls see the shivers running down her spine. She gulped and raised her chin high, encouraging Rose's wand to dig deeper.

“What’re you going to do?” Mia smirked.  
“Well, I could jellify your legs. Or we could use petrificus totalus.”  
“Oh yeah, petrify her.” Georgina said, clapping her hands while she hopped in place.  
“Pet-” Rose yelled, her voice echoing through the stone corridors. Mia ran, ducking to the side, and interrupting the pureblood. The halls passed in a blur as Mia left the slytherins behind. She could hear them yelling.  
Another spell wizzed passed Mia and she ducked into a corridor. Peering around for a place to rest and hide from the purebloods, she spotted a door to her right. Crashing it open and running through, Mia fell back and closed the door as she leaned against it.

\------

The door slammed, shaking on its hinges. Leda started, losing her place in the textbook she had been working from. Her eyes met the shocked ones of another girl, the same one who had waved to Leda all those weeks ago at the back of the pack of slytherins.

The girl was panting and wisps of her blond hair stuck to her cheeks. A beat passed as both girls took a breath and stared at each other like two deer in the headlights. Leda glared and instantly the other girl pulled herself upright and wiped her face with the back of one hand.  
“Sorry.”

Glaring harder, Leda did her best to scare the unwelcome intruder from the room. The stone walls and dusty desks were only for Leda. The girl didn’t pause as she pulled open the door and darted into the corridor.  
With a sigh and finally back at peace, Leda picked up the quill which was gushing ink onto her parchment. Tears pricked at her eyes as she saw the homework she would surely have to restart. At least she would have something to do until curfew. Leda thought as she wiped her eyes with one arm and began to write with the other.

Leda glared at the girl the second time she was interrupted in just as many minutes.  
“What?” Leda injected as much venom as possible into the one word.  
“I’m sorry.” The girl stammered, glancing over her shoulder as though she could see the attacker through the wooden door. “But they haven’t left yet. Can I hide out here for just a few more minutes?”  
“Fine but stop disturbing me.”  
“Of course.” Leda narrowed her eyes suspiciously as she watched the girl sink to the floor with her back against the wall. Now that the girl had stopped moving, Leda was sure that she wasn’t one of the endlessly paraded purebloods who were shown off at every social event. And there was no accent of a foreign country.  
“What are you doing in slytherin?” Leda couldn’t help slamming her book shut as the curiosity overwhelmed her.

“Guess I’m ambitious.” The girl shrugged- she didn’t look worthy Leda thought to herself. The random girl didn’t even defend herself against a couple school bullies. There was no way she would survive to climb the ranks of the ministry.  
“You guess?” Leda ended up spitting out, quirking an eyebrow. “Were your parents slytherins?” Leda wouldn’t be too hasty, maybe the new girl was not of the sacred twenty-eight. Or maybe a half-blood.  
“Oh,” The girl blushed and ducked her head to examine her fingernails. “Actually they’re both muggles.” She stumbled over the word, clearly unused to its feel on her tongue.

“So, a mudblood.” Leda’s face fell. The smile which had begun to show as she thought of a new friend was wiped clean by the single confirmation. “Go see if the hall is clear.” Leda said as she picked up the dropped book for the third time.

“You know I got into this school the same as everybody else.” The slytherin crossed her arms but made no move to reach for the door.  
“And unfairly.”  
“How?” The girl began to raise her voice and Leda rolled her eyes. Just as expected, the mudblood was frantic and angry. “I didn’t even know that wizards existed until a couple months ago.”  
“And now you’re wasting everybody’s class time with pointless questions.”  
“Would you prefer untrained wizards roaming around?”  
“But you’re not-” Leda was cut off as the girl leaped across the room, wand in hand.

“Do you want to finish that sentence and test how well my wand works?” Leda gulped, swallowing heavily. The mudblood touched her- and a fiery glint hung in her eye. When Leda still didn’t say anything the mudblood pulled away, stuffing the wand back into her pocket.  
“Good decision. Maybe I’ll stay here with you for some peace and quiet.”  
“You can’t! I was here first.”

“Oh. I didn’t see a sign on the door. I don’t really mind sharing.” The girl shrugged, smirking and daring Leda to respond again. “You can stay if you want.” The girl ignored Leda as she shuffled around, pulling books, parchment and quills from the leather bag at her side. The glare being sent her way did nothing to dissuade the mudblood. “Do you need anything?” The girl said, looking up quickly and smiling in a sickenly pleasant way.

Shaking herself Leda sighed and looked down to her lap, the blush on her cheeks glowed warm.

“Good.” Nodding the girl returned to ignoring Leda as she set to work. Helplessly, the hufflepuff opened and closed her mouth a couple times. Leda, a Travers, could not let a mudblood speak to her that way. The other girl couldn’t break into Leda’s personal space without retaliation.

If Leda had been sorted correctly, if the hat had listened, then maybe Rose would still be by her side. Rose would have forced the girl to leave. Maybe Leda wouldn’t even be in the current predicament if she had been sorted into slytherin.  
Leda ran her fingers through her hair and turned back to the book. She would show them all. School work and excellence. Leda could overtake all the mudbloods, and slytherins to boot. She would show them that being in hufflepuff didn’t change a thing.  
Pushing the sound of the other girl’s shuffling from her mind, Leda returned her focus to the assignment on her lap.


	4. Year 1 October: Words

The aroma of the bubbling boil cure hung over the dungeon classroom like a heavy blanket. The steam rose from the array of cauldrons scattered around the room, and the scent of each one mixed in the air as the students mindlessly followed the potion’s recipe.

Mia was sweating. Her hair escaped from the two braids and fell across her face. With shaking hands, she chopped the salamander finely and the blood seeped down her fingers. A boy, a small, fat boy with blond hair was stirring and counting feverishly as he kept pace with every revolution. Unceremoniously, Mia dumped her board of salamander into the cauldron and watched as the potion bubbled, turning from a violently bright green to a dull grey.

“Five more minutes.” Professor Snape said. His greasy black hair matched the rest of his dark wardrobe as he swept between the students to his desk on the raised dais. At his words all of the students groaned. The boils cure was no where close to the pink color it had been at the same minute mark from when they had practiced the potion only a week prior.

“Hurry up.” Mia whispered to her seat partner.

“I can’t. The book says a second per rotation.”

“But-”

“Look.” The boy urged, shoving the book in Mia’s direction. And she could have sworn that she heard the whispered mumble of “mudblood” under his breath. Mia clenched her fists. During the first day of class, Mia insisted on calling Professor Snape when the other slytherin’s had first insulted her. But he shook his head and walked away, merely laughing and continuing with his lecture. From then on, Mia hadn’t bothered calling attention to name calling and bullying. The adults at Hogwarts clearly did not care.

“Bottle up what you have and bring it up front.” Snape called out. As Mia scampered to his desk she held out the grey vial, hoping that he would accept the work. He shook his head, frowning down at the little girl.

“This is nowhere close to a usable potion.” He said, smirking at the plight he had placed over all the students. “Your assignment for tonight.” He began once all the slytherins had returned to their desks. “Is to write eight inches on the differences between my and the textbook’s recipe for boil cure. Why is my method better than the textbook version you all used today?” He grinned out over the room.

The class was ridiculous. Mia frowned. Why were there two ways to make the exact same potion? She groaned. Of course Hogwarts had such a stupid system, how could she expect anything logical. The whole curriculum at the magic school was crazy. Mia was convinced that none of the teachers had ever been evaluated. The professor for defense against the dark arts was a liability case on his own. The way he jumped at every sound, his wand out at the ready to fire at students, in a room full of eleven year olds.

At least the rest of the slytherins were laughing alongside her. Mia thought as she heard them begin to titter and talk amongst themselves.

“Silence.” Snape bellowed, and the class fell silent under his gaze. “Or I will be forced to expand the assignment. It is due tomorrow bright and early. Goodbye.” He waved the students from the classroom.

Mia rushed out first. Her bag slung against her leg as she rushed from the room. She hadn’t spoken with Rose or the other purebloods since her narrow escape the week before. They barely looked at her anymore, not bothering to acknowledge her at all as she sat alone through classes and during meals. Mia heard the chattering and laughing of the rest of her class as she left them all behind on the way to herbology.

\---

Mia breathed out a sigh of relief to see the empty classroom. As always the desks and chairs were covered in a fine layer of dust, but she ignored all the furniture to sit against the wall. Mia looked around, double checking that the hufflepuff girl wasn’t hidden away in a corner.

Why was the castle so large if half the rooms stood empty. Nobody aside from the strange hufflepuff girl had noticed Mia’s sneaking around. At least Mia could have some peace and quiet, she thought to herself. Sighing she pulled out a thick textbook from her bag, followed shortly with a quill and a roll of parchment. Snape’s potion assignment needed to be done.

Mia had already resigned herself to the idiotic school. Magic should have been interesting, something new and exciting. But all the classes were just spent sitting around while the professor droned on about theory. Mia was sure that her friends back home were having a fantastic time, playing outdoors, on the slide or swings, and spending their time in the classroom building dioramas.

At least astronomy was fun. The kids were allowed out of their beds at night to look through telescopes at the dark night sky. And there was no need to mess with the fancy quills which spilled ink across the page when held to lightly, but snapped in half when the pressure was only a tad too much. So far the astronomy professor had not assigned the first years any work outside of the class.

Glumly Mia returned her focus to the potions paper at hand. Her hand only just left the pot of ink when she was disrupted again. The hufflepuff pushed through the door and like a whirlwind she darted across the room to flop back down in her regular spot.

\---

The heavy textbook wobbled on Mia’s knee as she balanced it perfectly. The potions book had to cover her own face enough to block out the staring and watching which she was aiming at the girl at the other end of the room.

Still neither girl, the hufflepuff nor the slytherin, had spoken and instead they clearly avoided looking into each other’s eyes. Leda was glaring at her parchment as though the sight of empty paper filled her with rage. Mia wondered which class the other girl was writing so furiously for. The paper that Mia was working on was distressingly empty, even after arriving at the shared classroom earlier. And especially considering the fact that Professor Snape would be expecting the complete assignment bright and early the next morning.

She shifted the textbook but again her eyes were caught by the hufflepuff.

“What?” Mia started at being addressed for the first time. They had been working side by side for a couple weeks and never bothered to exchange names. The first day had started well but this witch was just like all the others, staring Mia down like a hunted prey animal.

“What?” She shot back. Matching the hufflepuff’s venom ten fold.

“You’re staring. That’s rude.”

“Calling me a waste of time is also.” Mia couldn’t help bringing up the old wound. Even if the other girl hadn’t been particularly rude recently.

“Why are you looking at me?”

“You’re more interesting than the homework.” Mia shrugged. She wasn’t all that sure why she couldn’t bring herself to look away.

“Well stop looking.” The hufflepuff grumbled. She turned back to her own work and picked up her quill easily. Mia tried to do the same but the blank page was too difficult to start. Maybe there was some sense to what all the purebloods had said so far. Mia had never taken a class on magic before that month, how could she be expected to compete with the kids who had been raised surrounded by spells and potions since birth.

The hufflepuff returned to her scribbling, not slowing even to dip her feather to refill the quill with ink. Mia pouted, wishing that she were as confident. She never spoke in classes, and the few essays she had written so far were short and uncertain. Nothing was going to be done if she never returned to the work. Frowning, Mia looked away from the other girl and chewed on the end of the quill as she thought.

\------

Leda’s quill scratched against the roll of parchment she was furiously writing on. Every few moments the sound stopped as she reached up to wipe her messy blond hair away from her face. The slytherin was infuriating, and she hadn't even stopped staring, Leda could feel the other girl's eyes staring back at her.

Unthinkingly, Leda pulled at a piece of paper left in her satchel, spreading it across her lap. Her mother’s familiar handwriting filled the page. Leda clenched her fists and gripped at the edges, trying to pull herself away from the letter. Her parent’s owl had swooped by that morning and dropped the letter on the table. Already the paper was creased and flecked with tears.

Leda sighed, annoyed that she had pulled it out and she threw it across the floor and returned to the assignment on her lap with a new determination. The Slytherin was staring, watching Leda’s movement. But Leda didn't look up until the other girl summoned all her courage and coughed quietly.

“Are you alright?” Leda asked.

“Yeah,” The girl responded before letting out all her breath in a flurry of words. “Only I have a question about the potions paper.” Leda looked at her, brows furrowed, and opened and closed her mouth a couple times. If her parents had seen the hesitation and the unbecoming pause, they would have thrown a fit.

“The what?”

“Snape’s essay.” The girl mumbled. She wasn’t looking at Leda, instead she glumly watched the tip of her quill dripping slowly onto the parchment. Leda fought to hide her eye roll, the essay the other girl was talking about was already stuffed deep into her bag, hidden away and complete.

“Do you have a specific question?” She prompted, thinking that she could finish the conversation quickly. There were still a couple hours before curfew and Leda would rather have all the homework finished before she the dormitory was filled with laughing and jeering students.

“Just,” The girl wrung her hands.

“Spit it out.”

“Sorry.” The slytherin took a deep breath and sealed herself. “I just want to know how new potions get invented. Like, how did Snape find a different way from the textbook. Wouldn’t it all be different potions?” “Not if the changes he made cancel each other out.” Leda laughed, realizing that this was actually a question she could answer.

“See, every change comes with a pair. So if Professor Snape’s direction says to only stir twice. Then there must be a second changed. Like pouring a liquid instead of adding a powder.”

“Oh. So it’s like baking. Sifting is the same as stirring so you can do one or the other?” The slytherin was grinning, eyes shining bright. It made Leda squirm.

“I guess.” She shrugged. “I don’t bake.”

“You should. It’s really fun.” The girl laughed, finally feeling at home in the stone castle. Everything about magic was so different from what the muggle born had dealt with at home. And there were still a couple things which she knew better than the witches who had lived with magic all their lives. “My favorites are chocolate cupcakes. The icing is amazing.”

“I like eclairs. My mother buys them for special occasions. We had them for dinner on the last night before school.” Leda fell silent and looked down at her shoes. Her face was reflected back in the dark black polish.

The letter lay between the two girls, the paper unfolded between them and Leda’s mother’s neat calligraphy danced across the page. Leda pulled the paper closer to herself, unfolded it completely to look it over. The crease came undone easily and Leda murmured along as she read. She had already memorized most of the letter. She stifled the tears to hide the emotions bubbling to the surface from the slytherin’s watchful, narrow eyes.

_Dear Leda,_

_I am sorely disappointed to hear of your sorting. As you should know, our family prides itself on our long legacy of slytherins. Everyone in our family for tens of generations have been Slytherins, and nothing less is expected from you, our eldest child. However, we still have your brother, the heir, to correct this mistake._

_While you are at school I recommend that you do not consort with those of lower status. Of course we have already told you this important fact, but you must be aware that this task is becoming more difficult with your unexpected house placement. You are welcomed by the other purebloods who managed to arrive in the correct house. Remember that. Don’t let your friends and bridges lie fallow. Do well in your classes. Do not slack. We will see you during the winter break._

_Your mother, Grace Travers_

Leda returned the paper back to its original folds and slid it into the envelope before stuffing them both into her school bag. The other girl in the room was a mudblood, Leda grinned, thinking of the fit her parents would throw if they knew the inner workings of Hogwarts. The warning about the winter and returning to her home hung in the air. Leda’s smile faltered, turning to a grimace in only a second.

“Are you alright?” Mia asked, shocking Leda out of her thoughts.

“Yeah, still fine.” Leda pulled her lips back upward and already the heavy weight of the letter began to lift. Her parents didn’t know anything just yet. There was still time for Leda to organize her thoughts and sort out her parents before the year was through.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Fine.” Leda grunted, folding her arms and turning away. The slytherin was playing with her last nerve.

“Okay, okay.” The girl lifted her hands in surrender. She chuckled to hide the discomfort. “My name’s Mia by the way.”

“Why should I care?”

“Uh-” Mia, the girl Leda thought to correct herself, stammered. Her shoulders slumped and she turned away. “Nevermind then.”

“Great. We agreed to share the room if you didn't disturb me or my work.” Leda shut down the conversation. There was nothing more for the two girls to discuss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think of the new chapter! What should I work on? I'm excited to keep writing and get to start getting into the real plot of this story.
> 
> Lots o' Love,  
> Me


	5. Year 1 October: Together

There was always somebody in the unused classroom. No matter the time of day, the mudblood was always sitting on the ground, calmly waiting for Leda to arrive. Of course they never spoke, Leda made sure of that. And since Mia’s obsessive staring and their shared conversation the day before, the pureblood had not been back.

Leda walked her own, looking over her shoulder to hear every cry of laughter as they followed her through the echoing corridors. Other classrooms were empty, Leda could feel their presence as she passed. Each room called out to her begging to be chosen and used. It was cruel to leave so many magical rooms empty and forlorn. Leda had read in Hogwarts: A History, the castle’s soul was alive. She shook her head, dispelling the thoughts.

Leda wished she could return to the classroom she was used to. The view from the high window managed to face both the great lake and Hogsmeade in its small frame. And, although Leda couldn’t admit it, she had grown used to the sound of Mia’s breathing and pages turning during their shared free time. Another room on her own would be too lonesome.

The leather strap on Leda’s bag pressed down into her shoulder. There was nowhere else in the castle to go. The abuse from a group of passing hufflepuffs was too frequent in the dorm or common room.

Leda picked up her pace. The castle’s bell tower had begun to toll the four o’clock bell. She had been wandering on her own for two hours. Piles of homework in her bag weighed Leda down, there had to be another place to sit. The pureblood groaned in frustration. Her back and arm ached from wandering the castle. A faint throbbing behind her eyes was steadily growing more painful as she walked. Leda clenched her fists, forcing back the tears of frustration which threatened to spill.

Already with a month of Hogwarts under her belt, Leda still got lost. The halls twisted and turned, dumping the hufflepuff out at a completely opposite side of the castle than where she expected. Leda craned her neck to look down the corridor. The portraits were the only thing that remained constant from one day to the next, but even they moved around with only the backgrounds telling the students where in the castle they were.

The girl in the painting across from Leda was familiar. She wore a long draping dress which hung from her shoulders in wisps and a small crown reflecting the sun behind her. The land behind her was a garden estate in the early spring. Snow was still on the ground but bright leaves of green peaked through. Leda frowned, unsure whether the woman was in her normal frame or if they were someplace completely different. She looked at Leda, tilting her head and opening her mouth.

“Can I help you?”

“Uh. Is this your painting?”

“And who else’s would it be?”

“Thank you.” Leda nodded to the portrait. The library was around the next corner, Leda had seen the girl arguing with a ghost one day while running to charms. Leda hurried off, pulling her bag closer as she walked. The library bustled with whispered chatter and students walking through the narrow shelves searching for books. Already Leda could recognize people as she walked between the tables, although she had never spoken with any of them and none spared her a second glance.

Her hufflepuff roommates sat at one table, accompanied by a few gryffindors. They were rolling their eyes and teasing one red-headed boy who had caught a spider and was gently petting it and letting the insect walk back and forth on his paper.

Three ravenclaw seventh years were throwing glares in the first year’s direction as the laughter disturbed the quiet peace of the library and their work. Textbooks towered over them and teetered in their piles.

Leda grinned. The slytherins, her friends were sitting at the same table she had chosen five weeks ago on the first day of school. Rose sat at the center, her own papers scattered and taking up a majority of the table. 

The hurry Leda had been in dissipated. Now that she was within sight, she slowed to a stop and watched the purebloods. They didn’t look up, barely looking around as they chatted and wrote. Leda sidled closer, hesitantly waiting for the girls to notice her. She grabbed the back of a chair and her invisibility disappeared.

“Can we help you?” Rose sneared. The conversation around the table stilled as all the slytherin girls turned to watch the newcomer. Leda shuffled her feet.

“I just want to sit.”

“The library is full of seats you can use. This one’s for our bags.” Rose smiled. “As I was saying,” She turned back to Georgina and continued her conversation just as if there had been no interruption.

Leda stammered. She looked around the table. One girl, Aster, shrugged and held up her hands before returning to the stack of homework. Rose made the decisions for all the purebloods, there was nothing they could do but join in on ignoring their former friend. Leda stood by them for a moment, she had known these girls all her life, they had traveled to each other’s homes since they could toddle in diapers. Heat began to flood Leda’s cheeks, and the tears from earlier overwhelmed her.

She rushed from the room, ignoring Madam Pince shrieks about knocking over precious shelves. The door slammed behind her and she felt the stone walls as she leant back against its warmth. She shook and tears wracked her body as she used the strong walls to hold herself up.

“Classes were…” Leda pushed to the center of the corridor as she heard people talking and walking in her direction. She recognized the voices easily after hours of sitting in her four-poster bed with the curtains drawn. Tonks, the loudest and most excited of all her roommates, was coming in her direction.

Leda spun around and hid behind a tapestry, narrowly avoiding the library door swinging open and the laughing hufflepuffs coming out. The dorm room would be in use, Leda groaned, she couldn’t even go back to her own bed.

Sighing, Leda shuffled away from her other first years and began the trek through the castle to the only other place of refuge.

Footsteps echoed outside the door and Mia dropped her quill to listen intently. Their voices faded and a moment passed without Mia hearing a single thing before she began scribbling again. The transfiguration essay on her lap was covered in cross hatches and doodles. Professor Mcgonagall had seen the half empty page as she collected the parchments during class. The firm scolding Mia expected never came as instead the professor only frowned and pushed the paper back across the desk.

“Tomorrow.” She said before continuing on. Mia stabbed her quill into the ink and brought the tip back to the page where a black puddle started to form. Would Mia get in trouble if never turned the assignment in? Mcgonagall scared the little girl, but what was the worst a single professor could do? Mia thought to herself as she leaned her head against the stone wall and let her eyes drift closed.

A creak from the door and Mia opened her eyes bleary. The hufflepuff looked around the room and her face fell as the two girl’s eyes made contact. The girl shook her head, blinked a couple times, and wandered to the wall where she also sat down, facing Mia.

“Hey!” Mia said, her face lighting up with a broad smile. “Where were you?”

“Just out.” The hufflepuff mumbled, already rummaging in her bag and averting her face.

“What?” Mia tilted her head, waiting and challenging the girl not to respond.

“Just in the library for a bit.”

“Alright.” Mia shrugged and picked up her essay which lay forgotten on the ground. The quill was dry and Mia had only added a sentence since sitting down in the room. Silence fell over the two girls, the sound of scratching quills and flipping pages the only break in the still air.

Mia let her hand fall to the side. The transfiguration facts ran dry and nothing more could be written to the paper which still missing the last five inches. She watched the pureblood, the girl’s head was bent double and she bit her lip.

“What were you doing in the library?” Mia blurted out.

“Just sitting.” She snapped her mouth shut, not even bothering to look at the muggleborn.

“Sitting?” Mia asked. “Did you need a book?”

“No.”

Silence fell again. Mia badly wanted to speak, break the girls out of their stalemate. The words pulled at the end of her tongue, begging to be spoken. The stillness of the room hung in the room’s thick air and pressed in on Mia from all sides. She began to tap her foot. Her quill hovered in the air but the slytherin didn’t bother to watch her page as she watched the girl over the rim of her book.

“Why must you stare?”

“Sorry.” Mia ducked her head, averting her eyes from the other girl. She heard the girl grumble, the sound echoing against the stone walls. “But,” Mia hesitated, folding her books closed and shoving it to one side. “Are you alright? I mean, you usually come straight to this room after classes.” Mia added in a hurry. The other girl was a mystery, Mia didn’t even know her name but there was a simple routine to their shared time together.

Mia shivered under the other girl’s glare. A moment paused, neither girl speaking, but also not returning to their work waiting eagerly to the side.

“Well,” The girl shrugged, her eyes shifting to taking in the empty classroom and clearly avoiding Mia’s questioning gaze. “I saw my old friends in the library but they don’t want anything to do with me anymore.” She looked up to the ceiling, Mia could see her eyes start to glisten with tears, but none ran down her cheeks.

“What happened?”

“Well. I’m a hufflepuff. Of course the slytherin’s won’t talk with me.” The girl shrugged. “I can’t really do anything.” She pulled her textbook closer to her own chest and Mia sighed.

“The slytherins? Like Rose and her girls? They’re awful, you’re lucky they don’t want anything from you.”

“You just think that because you’re a mudblood. I’ve been friends with them since birth and we actually were friends.”

The pureblood raised her voice and Mia raised up her hands showing that she had no ulterior motive. “Well, they’re super mean. They haven't spoken to you in weeks just because of your house.” Mia smiled, she knew that there could be no arguing with the evidence.

“Well I want to be their friend.” Leda crossed her arms, challenging Mia. Her chin jutted out over her arms and smirked. Mia looked between the pureblood and the classroom door. What could Rose Crabbe and the other girls offer which Mia, or any other Hogwarts student, could not. The purebloods in Mia’s dorm were arrogant and boring.

“Fine. You can leave whenever you want.” Mia huffed. “I’m going to do my work.”

“Thank you. That’s why I came to the classroom in the first place.” The pureblood sneered. Laughing into Mia’s face. Maybe she did deserve to be friends with the other girls in Mia’s dorm. 

“Great.” Mia smiled to herself, happy to have earned the last word, before picking up her quill and finishing the transfiguration essay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Y'all,
> 
> Here's the next chapter. I really hope you liked it. Let me know if you got this far in the fic. I hope the going isn't too slow even though this is a slow burn. They'll get along soon enough, and then who knows what'll happen. I mean, I will know but that's beside the point. 
> 
> Lots o' Love,  
> Me


	6. Year 1 November: Helping

School dragged on. Each day is more boring than the last. Leda had looked forward to classes at Hogwarts since she was a young girl. Her own parents told fantastical stories of midnight duels with the other houses and of their own meeting on the Hogwarts express as they travelled to their first year. But, in comparison, Leda’s time in the castle was miserable and lonely, with nary a boy in sight.

Charlie, the mudblood she had spoken with on the first day of classes did not count as company. Nor did the rest of the first years in her dorm who had steadily ignored here ever since that breakfast. Leda spent each waking moment either in class or in the dusty classroom with the only person who would speak with her, a slytherin mudblood.

Even now they were alone, each working silently. Leda scribbled furiously. The potions essay had to be perfect. She’d already written it once, only to discover a historical reason for a single ingredient, and she decided to rewrite from the start. As Leda wrote, Leda could feel Mia starring. The glare bore through the top of her head, itching at her scalp. The other girl had stopped working, laying down her quill and suddenly Leda was the only one making noise in their private hideaway. Leda shook her hand, the feeling returning with a tingle, as she lifted her face to look at Mia in return. The mudblood ducked her headed, cheeks blushing a bright red.

A chuckle escaped Leda’s mouth before she managed to bite her lip and stifle the smirk. The other girl was flipping through the textbook, her brow furrowed as she flipped through the pages quickly and randomly.

“Are you looking for something?” Leda pinched herself. The girl was a mudblood and not worth talking to. But the thought was pushed to the side of her mind, the question was purely teasing.

“Yep.” Mia looked up, her cheeks glowing under Leda’s stare and smirk. “I was just wondering,” She wavered, her eyes darting around the room as she thought of an excuse. “I was thinking about Mgonagall’s principles of size.” Leda scoffed, talking with the mudblood wasn't awful if Leda only uncovered more of her uselessness.

“I think you could understand the Universal Principle of Magnitude and Mass if you read the transfiguration book instead of that potions book.”

“Oh. Yes.”

“Are you also struggling with potions?”

“Well.” Mia looked around the room as if there could be other people in the hiding spot the two girls had found. “Kind of. I still don’t understand what’s happening. What is magic. If potions are only based on the ingredients why can’t muggles make them? Or use them?”

“Because they’re magic.” Leda shrugged her shoulders. The mudblood was asking stupid questions, and Leda looked longingly at her parchment with only half finished sentence. This was the exact reason the purebloods should have been in their own class. Leda’s parents had been right.

“Right, magic.” Mia rolled her eyes. “But where does it come from?” I didn’t ask for magic and my parents didn’t have it.”

“It just exists. It’s magic.” Leda said forcefully. She pulled her book closer to herself and picked up the quill she had dropped to the floor.

“Are you not a little bit curious about how it all works.”

“Why?” Leda snapped, she let the textbook fall back to the floor and looked up at the slytherin. “Spells work, potions work. What else is there to question.”

“Did you know that muggles don’t use candles and torches anymore because they discovered that they can make lightbulbs which switch on automatically with electricity.”

“What?” The conversation flipped, the balance which the girls cultivated until that moment ran out and turned on its head. Leda felt the ground shift beneath as she tried to understand what the mudblood was talking about.

“Okay. Muggles discovered electricity, the thing in lightning, and they found a way to keep it and turn the lights on and off with it.” The slytherin shrugged, why was the mudblood bringing up such a tangent. “I don’t know how it works exactly, not yet, but we were only able to make lights by finding out how it worked.”

“How did they do that?” Leda checked herself, hurriedly realizing that her mouth was hanging open in the most unbecoming way and the astonishment in her voice was most uncomposed.

“Exactly. The how and reasoning is interesting.” The slytherin smiled. “The teachers here should explain magic better.”

“Well. It’s not important.” Leda said with an air of finality and covered her face with the textbook. Behind the wall of paper she frowned, her mind racing as she thought about Mia’s question. The mudblood couldn’t be right about Hogwarts and schooling, could she? Magic had always spiraled around Leda her whole life. Her parents had magic, using it for the most simple of household tasks, and everyone Leda knew had magic ready on their fingertips.

Leda pinched herself, the potions essay still lay on the ground and she didn’t absorb a word of the reading as she sat in thought. The pureblood vowed to herself that she wouldn’t let the mudblood’s uncertainty reach her.

“What’s the question you have about transfiguration?” Leda sighed, her curiosity overtaking her as she gave up her guise of studying in defeat. The other girl looked up in surprise, her eyes wide.

“So you know the demonstration Flitwick had at the beginning of the year. He made water shoot out of nowhere. How did he create something from nothing. Or when Mcgongall turned her pig into a desk. Isn’t that cruel to change it back? Where did its life come from?” The girl spoke breathlessly, the words finally released from their dam she had built on arriving at the castle.

“I don’t know.” Leda was a pureblood, she thought to herself, she grew up around magic, of course she didn’t need an explanation.

“But I can’t do any spells without knowing. I’ve tried and it just doesn’t work.” The slytherin’s voice cracked, high pitched and loud as a sob rushed through her.

“Hey, hey. It’s alright.” Leda rushed across the room to sit beside the other girl, forgetting for a moment the promise that she would stay distant from the dirty mudblood. She wrapped an arm around the other girl, their robes tangling in a mess around their feet. “Look I’ll help you. It will be okay.”

“I can’t do magic and I’m away from all my friends back home where I can do all the things.” The slytherin’s tears raced down her cheeks, dripping past her dimples and landing on the dark green tie around her neck.

“It’ll just take some practice.” Leda smiled. The friends she had expected to make at Hogwarts weren’t speaking with her. They had fallen silent the moment the sorting hat fell over her eyes and yelled out Hufflepuff to the great hall. And yet, without Rose, Leda was helping someone and she was making new friends which her parents would never approve of.

Mia’s brain buzzed with the feel of magic coursing through her body. The two girls hadn’t tested any spells they hadn’t already learned in class under the watchful eyes of their professors, and yet they had found plenty to do. The room was scattered with silver needles shining in the dim light of the setting sun and Mia couldn’t stop the smile which hung on her face as she pressed all her school supplies back into her bag.

“Thank you again.” She couldn't help gushing to the hufflepuff as they finally cleared the room and began to head towards the great hall for dinner.

“It’s the least I can do.” Leda waved away the other girl’s praise. Her normally composed facade had broken, replaced with a wide smile which graced her whole face and lit up her eyes. Mia, closer than she'd ever been to the other girl, noticed that she really was very beautiful, if you ignored the shockingly bright blond hair. They stood toe to toe, with shoulder bags hanging by their sides. Mia took a step to past the hufflepuff, reaching for the handle, when a hand on her shoulder stopped her. "My name's Leda." The hufflepuff whispered, sticking out an open hand between them.

Mia smiled, reaching out her own and meeting in the middle. "Mia Bailey." They shook hands for a moment, only a beat of their hearts, but then Leda jumped back as though shocked. 

“You can go first.” Leda pulled open the door and gestured for Mia to pass. She nodded gratefully as she stepped under the pureblood’s arm and ducked into the corridor and joined the streaming crowd of students on the way to dinner.

“Thanks.” She looked over her shoulder at where Leda was still standing. “Are you coming down?”

“Yes. Just one moment.” The hufflepuff glanced around, hearing the laughter and chatting of other students. “I think I forgot a quill in the room. You go on ahead.” Mia frowned, but shrugged and turned back to walk ahead. Leda had put her quills in her satchel, Mia was sure she'd watched as she carefully folded the case without breaking a single one.

The girls had been doing so well for the two hours they spent in the classroom. Why was Leda abandoning her the moment they stepped through the door? Mia wished that they could stay in the safety of their quiet classroom forever, but they needed food and classes needed attending.

The great hall was crowded and loud, all the students laughing with their friends and drowning out all the thoughts which wired through Mia’s mind. Rose would be there, taunting all non-slytherins, and Mia. The muggleborn clenched her fists and walked faster. Dinner would be fine, they would go to bed and she could return to the classroom the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone,
> 
> Hope you're doing good! I can't believe it's already February, anyways I'm still trucking along with this story. I'd love to hear what you think, what should I work on?  
> The motivation of comments would be much appreciated.
> 
> Lots o' Love,  
> Me


	7. Year 1 December: Leaving

The sounds of quill scratches filled the room and only the occasional flip of a textbook page broke the comfortable silence. Mia bit at her finger as she lost herself in thought. The feather from her quill tickled at her chin as she bowed herself over the pile of parchments, all of which needed to be finished within the next day before the students boarded the train to return home for the holidays.

Both Leda and Mia were bundled in cloaks, their sweaters pulled close around them as the winter air blew through the window cracks and creeped close to their bones. At least the quiet classroom in the upper reaches of the castle was warmer than the cool dungeons where the slytherin dorms were tucked away, Mia thought to herself. Brusquely, she shook her head and turned back to the pile of work which had built up around her. Their professor's list of assignments was endless, each one claiming that finishing the work before break would give their students a well deserved rest. This had left the week leading up to the Christmas holidays as anything but relaxing.

The astronomy chart laid across her lap was annoyingly empty and there was nothing Mia could do which would force her to return her attention to the blank parchment. Her mind wandered, unable to tie down just one thought.

Mia imagined her parents at home, shuffling through the daily chores, preparing a warm bed for Mia, preparing her favorite meal. Were the rest of her friends excited to see her again? Did they even notice she was gone? The muggle world felt so different from the life at Hogwarts Mia had grown used to in only four short months. For the next month, everybody around her would be normal, no owls flying around and knocking wings across your face. There wouldn’t be any more magic food appearing in the great hall during meals. Mia sighed.

Would Leda spend her vacation the same way as Mia would? Mia couldn’t picture the pureblood in her small muggle home, among the steel oven, the pink fridge and frozen photos. The stone castle filled with armor and large portraits hurled Mia to the middle ages and there was no way that she could picture anyone from the past couple months in the modern setting and especially not mixing with muggles.

Touching her quill back to the paper, Mia noticed the ink had dried. Hastily she dipped it into the pot of ink balanced precariously at her side upon a pile of all the unused textbooks. The ink dripped as she swung the feather over her work and it hung in the air. Mia looked around herself.

Leda was working in the other corner of the room. The desks blocked her clear vision of the other girl and Mia craned her neck to see her face furrowed and scrunched together as she wrote furiously. Of course, the girls could use the desks but the heat emanating from the walls were the only source of warmth in the empty room.

Mia ducked her head, blushing as she noticed Leda begin to shift in her seat and reach up to wipe her hair from across her eyes. They hadn’t spoken yet today, it wasn't widely unusual for them to spend weeks ignoring each other despite constantly being in the same room together. Behind the hufflepuff, Mia could see the light of the moon shine through the window, a couple stars peeked out from the clouds.

Her stomach rumbled and Leda looked up, shocked by the noise but only a moment passed before she returned to her pile of homework. Mia packed her bag slowly, she sighed as she saw all the empty parchment return to the dark recess, all the half completed essays which would surely keep her up until the small hours of the morning. But the pile of unfinished assignments wasn’t the thing holding her back from running to the great hall where piles of food would surely be waiting.

The other girl didn’t look at Mia, instead she only continued writing, her quill floating along the page with only enough time to dip it back into the inkwell at her side. Mia clenched her fists and breathed deep. Words clung to the tip of her tongue but she couldn’t pluck up the courage to break the stillness which always enveloped the classroom.

Mia could count on one hand the number of times Leda and bridged the quiet air and spoke to her classmate. But the holidays were approaching, there would be no time the next morning to sneak to the classroom again and see each other before leaving for Hogsmeade and the train station platform. They had agreed to not be friends, they rarely spoke but leaving for two weeks without saying goodbye seemed an abrupt end to the study group . The girls had spent hours of each day together since the start of the school year, how could they leave that without acknowledging all the time that they had shared. 

Mia swung her bag over one shoulder and stood, walking over to the other side of the classroom where the door was tightly shut. She glanced over at Leda one last time and noticed that the girl had looked up, watching her as she shuffled and knocked into desks with the unwieldy satchel. Mia closed her eyes and sealed herself.

“Happy Christmas.” She cried cheerfully, smiling broadly to the hufflepuff.

“Thanks.” The other girl replied, her face not lighting up in the same way. “I wish you one as well. What are you planning on doing?” With this phrase she at least seemed more genuine and her eyes fluttered as she looked up at the other girl from her seat on the floor.

“I’m not sure, I hope my friends back home haven’t cast me aside.” Mia responded. She wished she could leave, hadn’t spoken at all. Her stomach was growling and a gnawing of anxiety was beginning to pull at her insides. But she saw the dejected look on the other girl’s face and she couldn’t pry herself away.

“That’ll be nice to see other kids.”

“Yes. Although I have know idea what I’ll tell them about where I’ve gone. They’re not supposed to know about magic or Hogwarts.”

“Of course, the muggles.” Leda’s nose wrinkled, probably picturing Mia’s family and her friends rolling in a muddy field like an uncivilized troop of gorillas.

“They’re great though.” Mia felt a sudden urge to defend them from this random student who she was sure would never have to meet them. “I’m just a bit nervous.”

“Alright.” Mia wanted to punch Leda for the eye roll which overtook her face. “Anyways, Happy Christmas.” Mia was waved from the classroom.

* * *

The countryside passed in a blur, first in moorish reds and the blue sky of Scotland and then the grey streets and carefully manicured green fields of southern England. Leda thumbed through the book on her lap but her mind was elsewhere, staring out as she thought about seeing her parents again for the first time, since being sorted into hufflepuff.

As the Hogwarts Express left the cozy country and began to hurl through tight roads and rising buildings Leda felt her core begin to clench and she scowled at the constant pangs which radiated from her gut. She leaned her head against the cushions of her seat, stretching out to put her legs up on the opposite seat. Nobody was watching because nobody was in the same compartment as her. They were all on their own with the friends they had made at school. Leda groaned and burrowed further down and closed her eyes to block out the bright lights. She wanted to curl up in her large bed in the hufflepuff dorms and hide behind its thick curtains. Or better yet, she could wake from the nightmare which had been her Hogwarts stay so far and find out it had all been a nightmare, that she was going to school for the first time the next morning.

The last letter from her parents was clutched in her hand, wrinkling under her tight grip. The words were short and tense, only a couple sentences graced the page telling her that they would be waiting and they were expecting her on the king’s cross platform the moment the train pulled in. Leda sighed. She had memorized the whole letter, the task hadn’t been difficult, being as short as it was.

There was no mention made of her classes or her house, much less an inquiry as to how Leda had been doing for the four months away from home. All the letters Leda had received were curt.

Finally Leda could feel the train begin to slow under her and she glanced out the window again. The platform was packed with people, they pushed against each other, jostling to be closer to the train. Leda found her parents and she sucked in her breath, closing her eyes again and ducking behind the window to stay out of view until the train had completely slowed to a stop.

They stood under the awning of the back wall, their dark cloaks buttoned to their chins and standing straight as rods with the posture Leda had been drilled in since she could walk. Both parents had arrived at platform nine and three quarters, but they didn’t speak to each other, opting instead to stare out at the crowd and the scarlet engine.

Leda groaned as she pulled her trunk of the train behind her and began to trudge through the packed bodies to her parents. She wished she could pull her cloak tighter around herself but both her hands were full, a large hooting owl in the hand not occupied with the trunk. Neither parent rushed forth to help her, or even to greet her.

The pureblood muttered to herself as she wound between clumps of families all huddled together and blocking the clear path to the back wall. A family with five small children crowded around two hogwarts students, all with bright red hair as they frolicked and stepped into Leda’s way. She swore and shoved them harshly to the side, pushing through.

“Hello mother.” She said stiffly, curtsying and avoiding the glaring eyes of the tall woman. “Hello father.” She turned, a practiced move and curtseyed to him as well.

“Leda.” Her father spoke, gruffly, his voice forced out of him like an engine stalling. He grabbed her wrist tightly with fingers which crushed her wrist and turned the skin white with their grip. “We have things to discuss.”

“I’m ready to hear it all .” Leda pulled herself up, her head raised and ready to receive whatever insult her parents could throw in her direction.

“No. I suggest we return to the house first.”

Leda shivered and prayed that her parents hadn’t noticed the grimace flit across her face. The train station platform, the many people and ready gossip, was safe. A place where her parents’ usual punishments would get out into the world. But a tug at her stomach and Leda felt the familiar pull of apparition and the squeeze of being whipped through the air.

\---

The manor was just as Leda remembered. The entrance hall was lit with rows of torches along the wall and a large chandelier hanging from the center of the ceiling. The light spread from the room, reaching its tendrils into the corridors where it disappeared and vanished into darkness.

A portrait of Leda’s great-great-grandfather hung on the wall. He glowered over the recently arrived family. The mustache bristled across his upper lip and it folded around the pipe he held steady and was smoking steadily.

“Leda.” The portrait's voice made the girl jump. It was loud, gravely, and speaking to her directly. All the portraits at Hogwarts largely ignored the students and were much more interested in speaking amongst themselves. “Leda, Leda. You are a part of this family. You are representing your parents- and me - at Hogwarts. You can’t be pulling stunts like being sorted into Hufflepuff.”

Leda whimpered under the portraits glare, his eyes stared down at her almost as if she could see through her body and into her most intimate thoughts. “I’m sorry. I asked that I not be placed there but the hat just wouldn't listen.”

“Girl, you are not thinking large enough.” Leda’s father raised his hand to the ceiling, the wand pointing directly at her. “You must learn to stand with your family even if you are in another house. You are lucky that poor little Cygnus is the heir and can make up for your grievous mistake.”

“I’m sorry father. I’m working hard. I’ve gotten mostly outstandings on all my school work.” The words spilled from Leda’s mouth, flowing altogether in a torrenting rush.

“School isn’t about what you know. No, it’s who you know which matters to the ministry.” Her father sniggered. “Have you at least kept that Crabbe girl close. You must remember not to fraternize with the traitors.”

Leda gulped. She could lie, a little hint about speaking with Rose and still heading all the girls in her year. But her parents would uncover the half-truths, gossip spread through purebloods like a river of fire. “No.” She stammered. “Rose wouldn’t let me sit with them.

“You useless girl.” Grace, her mother, stepped forward. “Crucio.”

Leda screamed, her voice echoing and carrying to the furthest reaches of the sprawling manor. Every nerve in her body was on fire, her back arched and taunt, every muscle in her body stretched. Where only a moment before Leda had been standing at attention, she lay curled in a heap on the marble floor.

“We have two weeks with you in our home. During that time you will learn your place.” Her mother said before dismissing the girl and waving her from the room.

Leda pushed up from the floor, not bothering to dust herself off. The floor was clean anyways with the house elves always scuttling about. Tears lingering in her eyes she rushed from the room and ran up the staircase and out of her parent’s sight. The tears of pain began to flow again.

The bed bounced as Leda threw herself onto the downey mattress. At least that was a warm comfort. She burrowed below the blankets, pulling them around her face to cover her streaming eyes. As her mother had said, there were only two more weeks before she could escape back to the solitude of school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> Hope you're doing well! I'm really curious to know what you're thinking of the story. I hope it's not too much. This is my first time writing fanfiction so I don't really know how it all works.
> 
> Lots o' Love,  
> Me


	8. Year 1 January: Back

With a new spring in her step, her energy returned after a couple weeks surrounded by loving family and chattering friends, Mia hopped onto the Hogwarts express. She flounced through the corridor in a rush to find an empty compartment and flop into the padded seats.

The heat along her back from her parents' lingering touch dimmed as the young girl relaxed. Mia pulled out a textbook and squirmed into her seat- making herself comfortable for the long ride back to school. The book creaked as Mia cracked the spine. It hadn’t left her trunk during the winter break, but as the train hurled through the countryside and back to school the homework stuffed inside could not be ignored any longer.

\-----

The train ride passed in a blur of focus and Mia quickly found herself back in the Great Hall with all the other Hogwarts students. The ceiling was a dull grey, already fading to the black night sky at five in the afternoon. Candles flickered to life as shadows creeped across the room and darkened the faces of everybody sitting inside.

Mia leaned back in her seat as she took in the array of food still remaining. She couldn’t stomach another bite and the food weighed her down so that all she wanted to do was curl up under a duvet and fall asleep.

Mia barely listened to the other slytherins, they had been talking through the whole meal but she couldn’t bring herself to pay them any mind- and they thankfully ignored her as well.

Rose Crabbe had been in France for the holiday, and her skin was tanned from days lounging along the beach. The other girls hung on each word which fell from her mouth but Mia turned away in disgust. She had seen her own friends. Mia grinned- Rose probably didn’t have enough ‘real’ friends to spend time with outside of Hogwarts.

The welcome back feast dragged on and Mia hung her head, letting her eyes droop closed. The small satchel she had brought into the room slipped, hitting her leg and she darted up. There was still a lot of work which needed to be done that evening, before Mia could return to her dorm. She cursed herself for not having done the assignments during the long hours wandering between her kitchen and her bedroom.

Mia pushed away the thought, folding her arms and looking around to see if she could leave the hall without anybody noticing. All the other slytherins ducked their heads, talking quickly among themselves. None of them probably even knew that Mia was sitting there alongside them.

Hesitantly, Mia pushed back on the bench. She sidestepped it while grabbing blindly for the bag she had stuffed underneath and began to walk through the Hall until she reached the main entrance where silence wafted over her. She had forgotten how loud Hogwarts was. She sighed in relief, taking the stairs two at a time as she ran to the hidden classroom.

\-----

Mia smiled as she stacked the textbooks around herself. Of course the statute of secrecy kept Mia from telling her muggle friends too much about Hogwarts. But they had gaped in awe at her new owl and questioned Mia about living alone without her parents. They had know idea what topics her professors discussed and how different it was from their own work.

Being at Hogwarts was cool. It made her unattainable to her friends back home. Gleefully, Mia picked up her parchment and continued writing from where she had left off on the train. She would pass the classes and put in the work. There were only, Mia thumbed her hand through the parchments layered on her lap, ten more pages to fill with cramped scribbles. She huffed and ducked even closer to the paper.

* * *

Leda could not eat enough. Her plate sat empty for the third time that night and already Leda was eying another helping of roast beef from the center of the table. Shrugging her shoulders Leda reached forward and pulled it closer, helping herself to a heaping spoonful.

The break spent at the manor was just as the girl had expected. Leda’s parents punished her for the sorting hat’s decision. Shutting her into the bedroom in disgrace, only letting her out once a day for stern lectures and harsh warnings.

Leda basked in the warmth of the great hall and the hubbub around her, closing her eyes to let the warmth of home envelop her. Coming back to the present, she noticed the hufflepuffs halfway across the hall and jogged to catch up with them. None of the hufflepuffs spoke to Leda but she didn’t want to be left alone at the table. Especially where Rose Crabbe could see her.

All of the hufflepuffs had returned home for the holidays so the dorm room was perfectly cleaned apart from their tightly packed trunks where they were placed on the end of every bed. For just a moment the room looked like a faux creation, at least until the girl entered.

Leda ducked through the door behind the rest of the girls, jumping into her bed before the others could notice her. The curtains hung around her, closing Leda off from the rest of the room and leaving her encompassed by a golden light. She sat for a moment, lounging with a full weight in her stomach for the first time since stepping on the train to return home.

But her book lay in the trunk and the uniform rode up uncomfortably as Leda wiggled on her bed. Sighing, she pushed herself up and lifted the curtains to find the rest of the hufflepuffs outside.

“The purebloods showing her face.” The girl who had spoken laughed, tipping her head back and rolling onto the ground. Leda rolled her eyes, the joke wasn’t funny.

“So you’ve graced us with your presence.” Another said. “How was France? Did you throw peasants off a boat?”

“No.” Leda mumbled. The Travers normally spent their winters in the warmth of Southern France but this year was different, Leda was different. The pureblood ignored the hufflepuff’s jibes as she dug through her trunk searching for some more comfortable pyjamas.

“Come on. You’re a pureblood. Your family must have piles of gold and hundreds of stupid ideas on how to spend it.”

Leda balled her fists, feeling the ends of her nails digging into her palm. She stopped sifting through the pile of clothing for a moment as she caught her breath and pushed down the tears which began to well up.

“Come on. At least tell us what your parents got you for Christmas. Was it the newest broom? Or are those not allowed for the regal pureblood girls.”

Leda’s vision swam. She pictured herself curled up on her bed, hearing the shrieks of joy from her younger brother as he ripped through the presents downstairs. She’d with the family for Christmas dinner, everybody her parents knew were invited to the meal. But once the last guest left the house, Leda was dashed off to her room and locked back in. She didn’t see her family again till boxing day.

“The holiday was great.” Leda smiled hoping that her grimace was hidden, the pit in her stomach opening up wider. She wiped at her eyes, forcing the tears back. “I’m sure you could never imagine it.”

“Oh. It was like that. Was the dark magic just too much?” Leda could hear the smirk in the other girl’s voice but she couldn’t think of a retort. Instead the image of her parents standing over her, bellowing curses came to mind. Their hostility and hate seeping out through their wands in rivers of darkness.

Leda rushed from the room. The tears flowed freely down her cheeks but the pureblood hid her face behind a sleeve as she rushed through the common room. The halls of Hogwarts were quiet. All of the other students must have been resting after the tiring train ride and wonderful feast. Leda continued to run.

She didn’t need to think. After four months in the castle, Leda could find the empty unused classroom with her eyes closed. The wooden door was warm as Leda pushed it closed behind her and leant for a moment to catch her breath. Her hands held her head tightly as she covered her face from the glaring torch light.

“What’re you doing?” Leda jumped. Mia was in the room with her. Why did the mudblood have to follow her around? The other girl was sitting in her usual corner of the classroom, but for once she was diligently working. The parchment on her lap was half filled and two more rolls were stacked to the side, the ink quietly drying.

“None of your business.” Leda bit back. Shoving the tears away which were still coursing down her face. “What’re you doing? The slytherins kick you out?”

“I’m working.” Mia rolled her eyes and returned to her work. She didn’t seem to care at all about the other girl.

“Are you not going to ask what’s wrong?” Leda bit her lip. She didn’t know why she was asking. She didn’t want to talk with the mudblood. There wasn’t even anything she wanted to say. But the anger filled her, rising up from the pit in her stomach, rushing over the brim and turning her face a warm red and threatening to spill over everything around her.

“No. You don’t want to tell me. I have work to do. We’re both happy like this.” Mia shrugged and picked up the quill she had dropped.

“No, I have stuff to say.”

“We’re not friends.” The slytherin spoke slowly, as though she were teaching a young child. “That means we don’t have to talk.”

“But I want to- ”

“Will you shut up?” Mia yelled. Her face was red and she was breathing heavily. “You can’t just use me when you’re upset to get out your feelings. If you really need the room I’ll leave but I have assignments to do.” The books thumped against one another as the girl threw them into the satchel, the parchments following close behind.

“I didn’t mean-” Leda began but the door slammed in her face. The other girl left in a flurry of school supplies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you thought. I'm always curious to know what people like to read and what you guys don't want to hear about.
> 
> Lot's O' Love,  
> Me


	9. Year 1 January: Confrontation

Mia ducked out of the tapestry covered alcove. She blushed as she stepped to the side of the furiously kissing sixth years who had suddenly arrived. Mia couldn’t decide how their frantic snogging could be comfortable, let alone enjoyable. The boy seemed to be eating the girls lips in their faces battle for dominance.

She groaned, wiping her hand across her face as she thought. Why had she been the one forced to relent the room? Mia had been there first that day a week ago. Rightfully, the empty classroom should have been hers for the taking but, of course, in her anger, Mia had left the room to the arrogant pureblood. Mia sighed again.

Her sleeve was wet from the tears dripping down her face.  Mia brushed her hands against her cloak to dry them as she walked aimlessly through the castle. Classes were out for the day, so she avoided the large halls where other students were bound to be sitting. Mia looked around herself and noticed where she was in the castle. She frowned, of course her subconscious had brought her back to this corridor.

Mia and Leda's classroom was behind the first door, you nearly bumped into it when turning into the long corridor. Mia pressed her ear to the wooden door, but nothing made a noise. She backed away because she refused to risk running into the pureblood. Leda was mean and awful.

Sighing, Mia turned back and began to walk the way she had come down the stairs to the library. Her satchel was growing heavy after being lugged across the entire castle. And the homework inside was becoming more and more vital to do.

“Hey. Mudblood.” Rose loomed tall and her shadow fell across Mia’s face as the Slytherin pureblood stopped in her way. “What’re you doing all on your lonesome. Can’t find some other traitors to spend time with?”

Mia balked. The hallway was empty, and there was nowhere to run from the gang of slytherins other than back up the stairs to the classroom, where another pureblood was probably waiting for her.

“Leave me alone.” The muggle born muttered. She hid her face and averted her eyes. Rose enjoyed teaching others lessons and acting as though she were so much loftier. But there was no fun in kicking someone already down on the ground.

“Come on. Where’s the attitude? You’re meant to be a slytherin. Or maybe you’re really just a muggle and you don’t actually fit in here.” All the other purebloods laughed, Mia could feel her cheeks reddening as she listened to them.

“Please. I just want to pass.”

“Aww, are you going to cry?” Another girl taunted. But the slytherins seemed to have had their fill as they returned to their own conversation and began to walk further down the hall. Mia hesitated for a moment, thinking she could follow them for a little company. The girl shook her head. What was she thinking? Hiking the satchel back up on her shoulder, she marched down the hall and to the library.

\-----

For once the ever renewing pile of homework was complete and Mia let herself take a break and stare into the distance. She sighed contentedly, still full from the delicious Hogwarts dinner. The tables which were packed into each crevice of the library were filled with students. 

The seventh and fifth year students were marked easily by their piles of textbooks which blocked them from view. It was only January, still five months until exams, but Mia had run into more than one who had burst into tears from the stress. Mia’s table was the only one in the large room with only a single student sitting.

The faces of the other students were becoming more familiar after spending the past week in the library. Mia could recognize more and more people, although she still didn’t speak to any of the other students. The first day after the argument, Mia had tried talking with a couple ravenclaws but on the sight of her green tie they had shot her a dirty look and immediately turned to ignore her.

Mia sighed. She wished she hadn’t yelled at Leda. The hufflepuff hadn’t really done anything too terrible. But even hearing the voice of the other girl, one who had acted so aloof and distant during the past four months, had launched Mia back into her memories from before the vacation.

The train ride back to Hogwarts had been filled with hope. After seeing all her muggle friends and getting used to having other people her age on speaking terms, Mia had expected the same from the witches and wizards. Clearly friends at Hogwarts were not in her cards, Mia thought to herself.

The bang of the library door smacking against the wall shocked Mia from her reverie. Rose Crabbe marched through, clearly the slytherins had finished their mission in the far reaches of the castle. Their eyes fell on Mia and they began to walk in her direction, their arms crossed over their chests and frowning deeply.

“We’ll be taking this table.” Rose demanded once she was within Mia’s earshot.

Mia cowered, nodding. She jumped from her seat and stuffed all her school supplies into the satchel on her shoulder before running from the room. A fight with the pureblood slytherins wouldn’t be worth it, especially if Mia planned to live in the dorm rooms for the rest of the semester. One fight a day was enough.

The halls were empty, and Mia rushed through them. There weren’t many places she could hide for the rest of the evening. She pulled the satchel back onto her shoulder, holding it closer and preventing it from slipping to the ground. The girl huffed. The classroom had been a safe place for her- the hufflepuff was judgemental and condescending- but she was still better than anybody else Mia had met in the castle.

\-----

Slowly, Mia made her way up the stairways. They crossed each other, back and forth as she passed from one side of the caste to the other until she managed to reach the far end of the castle where the empty unused classroom was hidden.

She passed by the door again, pausing for a moment as she contemplated its silent strong wood. Her thumb throbbed and Mia grunted, wincing as she felt the bed of her nail where she had chewed it to a wick.

Mia was going to end up chewing off her fingers if she wasn't able to pull up the courage to enter the room. She took a deep breath and steeled herself.

“I'm sorry.” She said, the door still swinging shut behind her.

“It’s been a week.” Leda responded, calming herself quickly when she saw that it was only Mia bursting through the door.

“But I really am sorry.”

“It’s alright.”

“I didn’t mean to be so mean.” Mia ran her hand through her hair, twirling around her finger as she chewed her lip.

“Really it’s my fault. You were happy and I was dragging you down with my misery. I’m the one who should say sorry.” Mia looked around the room, mouth agape. The pureblood was never this kind and forgiving. For all four months the girls had spent together in the room they had barely exchanged three words. But all of a sudden, Leda was groveling at Mia’s feet for forgiveness.

“Really, it’s quite alright. I don’t mind. I should have listened to you. My yelling was completely out of line.” Mia backtracked, her mind spinning. She had only partially planned out what she was going to say. And there was no scenario in which she had pictured the other girl being understanding or even kind.

“I’m glad we sorted out our feelings. We should agree to not yell at each other in the future.”

“Are we, I, we’re going to keep talking?” Mia stammered. She looked around, she was still looking at the same pureblooded girl from the last semester. She wore the same expertly tailored black robes and yellow tie which was a couple shades darker than her actual hair.

“Yeah. I figure that if neither of us really have friends then it doesn’t matter that you’re a mudblood and I’m a pureblood.”

Mia opened and closed her mouth. She was gobsmacked. “Oh. Well.” She smiled, the apology was going even better than she’d hoped. “That’s fantastic. What was wrong when I yelled at you?”

Leda hesitated. Mia could see the other girl’s eyes starting to brim with tears and she rushed across the room. She had been standing awkwardly against the door but with the conversation subsiding she realized that she could rest, and get closer with the hufflepuff.

“The break at home with my family did not go as expected. Or, rather.” The girl shivered, holding herself tightly as though remembering a horrible memory. “Well maybe it went too much as I expected after not seeing my parents for the whole term.”

“What did they do?” Mia couldn’t help whisper. For a moment she worried that the pureblood would stop talking, that her question was invasive and too much for the already crying girl, but she plowed on.

“My parents weren’t happy about the sorting. And then when they noticed that I was alone on the platform and heard I wasn’t talking with the other purebloods they got even madder.”

“But being in hufflepuffs isn’t your fault. Plus who wants to be friends with Rose and her gang?” Mia smiled when the other girl laughed. The tears still dripped down her cheeks, leaving behind bright traces of their tracks but her eyes were glowing. “What even is the difference between all the houses. They’re all just as mean.”

“That’s not true. It’s just that some believe different things.” Leda looked up, shooting a confused look at the muggle born.

“No, it’s true. I haven’t met a nice person in any house. No matter what.”

“Not even the gryffindor blood traitors?”

“No. They saw my tie and basically ran away.” Mia shook her head, recalling the awkward moment during the first day of herbology. “They’re even worse than the slytherins.”

“I thought they’d be nice to you.”

“Why? I don’t get it.” Mia grasped onto the question. During her time at Hogwarts she had heard plenty about the school rivalries, and she’d understood. The cliques at her muggle school fought and had friendly competitions. But at hogwarts, the hate between gryffindors and slytherins was so much greater than some simple childhood fantasy.

“What do you mean why?” Leda asked. Her mouth agape, her whole face in shock as she peered at the other girl.

“Like, why would the gryffindors like me? Why is there so much fighting all the time?” The pureblood surely had to know, Mia only prayed that her good will would last for the other girl to answer fully.

“Oh. You poor mudblood.” Mia’s skin prickled at the insult but she ignored it, Leda clearly didn’t mean anything. “It’s because of the war. The muggles and their children were getting a bit too comfortable in the wizarding world. The slytherins fought to protect our culture and defend us, the gryffindors turned tail and joined the muggles.”

“Oh.” Mia paused and bit her lip.

“Of course, my family, all being slytherins, joined the ranks of the dark lord. My father was one of his best men.” Leda’s father, Mia clenched her hands thinking of a war between the houses only a generation prior. Mia tried to picture her own father fighting against the impossible to stop flashing spells of the wizards. She shivered.

“Oh.”

“The war is over now.” Leda said, as though her words would comfort the muggle born. “The purebloods lost. There were just more muggles and traitors. And then Harry Potter, of course.” The name hung in the air as though Mia should have understood. “The professors should really teach about this. Binns is absolutely useless with all his goings on about goblin wars hundreds of years ago.” Leda shrugged. “I’m glad we’re friends.” She continued rambling when Mia still wouldn’t respond.

The muggle born sat still, staring ahead of herself as she tried to take in all the new information. There had been a war, less than forty years ago, with the purpose to rid the wizarding world of Mia and all her kind. Nobody had mentioned the war. Maybe it was over and there was no need to worry. Mia could stand up to a little bit of bullying. Leda had said they were friends, maybe the lines between purebloods and muggle borns didn't matter anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Y'all,
> 
> Fun fact which I should have realized when I originally read the HP books but I guess never sunk in. Being 11 equals 6th grade. I don't know why I imagined all the first years as practically kindergarteners but this actually makes sense. Oops.
> 
> It really doesn't change much but I was writing a later chapter which had a mention of the muggle world and the dots fell in place for me.
> 
> Lots o' Love,  
> Me


	10. Year 1 February: Anger

Mia pushed her peas around the golden plate in front of her. At first, the magic of Hogwarts had captivated Mia, the ghosts floating above the student's heads and calmly popping out of walls and talking with one another had been like nothing she’d ever seen back in the muggle world.

Mia had watched the christmas decorations be carted away by the professors, lines of fully grown pine trees replaced with smiling cupids for upcoming valentines. But with holidays over and the professors beginning to pile on more work as the end of the year began to approach, Mia couldn't stand the school any longer.

The muggles at her old school could't do magic, but at least they were kind and let Mia spend time with them. Mia swirled the food around her plate, wishing she could stomach at least a couple more mouthfuls of lunch.

“Mudblood.” Rose's voice startled Mia from her thoughts. The slytherin girls all looked in her direction, waiting for her expectantly to respond. “Can you solve one plus two?”

Mia looked around herself. The slytherins barely acknowledged Mia’s presence, and the girl had to look over her shoulder to make sure they were really addressing her.

“Oh, um.” Mia stammered, hesitating just a moment too long. “Th-” 

“Aww, the mudblood is stupid.” Georgina said in a sing-song voice, speaking over Mia’s attempt. Mia blushed, ducking her head. The pureblooded slytherins were clearly bored of their relaxed meal and were taking the time to instead tease the poor muggle born. “Is that why you can’t answer a single question in class?”

“Maybe if you weren’t stupid, you wouldn’t always lose us points.” Another girl sneered.

Mia balked, the blush in her cheeks burning warmer as she felt the stares of the other students around her. None of the older kids bothered to look at the first years, their concerns more focused on their own lives than the tiny first years.

“Why did you even bother coming to Hogwarts if you don’t know anything?” Rose laughed, “You lost more points this morning. And you’re in detention again today. You might not care about slytherin or the house cup, but the rest of us do.”

Mia had tried to finish the work the professors assigned her. And she had a lot of time because homework was the only thing the pureblood hufflepuff did with a smile. But the piles of parchments which all needed to be filled remained empty as Mia pushed their urgency to the side and waffled through the thick pages of the textbooks. She didn’t understand how any of the students in her year understood the professors. Magic concepts were too vague to explain and Mia could barely imagine the power behind the fantastical spells.

“It’s not as though you wizards make it easy to learn.” Mia shot back. Crossing her arms across her chest, frowning deeply.

“Because you’re a mudblood. Not actually meant to be here.”

Mia choked, clenching her fists. She couldn’t strike out, the sea of slytherins would restrain her before Mia managed to cross even a quarter of the table. Rose Crabbe was the queen of their year and there was no way Mia could get close enough to punch her the way the girl deserved.

“You’re filth.” A boy spoke up, pulling even more kids into the mess of taunting. Mia looked over her shoulder. The slytherins obviously ignored the fighting at the end of their table but the hufflepuffs directly behind her could still help stop the relentless bullying.

“Am not. I got the Hogwarts letter just the same as all of you.”

“Somehow you got your hands on a letter.” Rose corrected and raised her wand arm, casting a hex. The pus came slowly at first and then began to drip from Mia’s sleeves as she began to feel it ooze all around her. The yellow liquid dripped onto the table and slid down to her skirt which was also slowly growing damp.

Again Mia looked over her shoulder for anybody from the other houses. But Mia’s thankfulness that all the first years sat at the front end of the Great Hall was short-lived as she saw all the hufflepuffs turned away and resolutely looking at the wooden table. The other first years, in their matching dark cloaks but yellow ties had their ears perked up, listening to the drama behind them and yet none of them spoke.

Leda looked up, but noticing Mia’s eyes land on her face, the girl blushed and dipped her head. She looked directly at her plate, not letting anything pull her away from the fascinating glow of gold. Mia glared.

The so-called friend was ignoring her completely, hiding her face from the simple glance of the slytherins. Mia clenched her fists and bared her jaw, locking the emotions bubbling up from flooding out. Mia pushed herself away from the table. She didn’t care that she would be the first person leaving the great hall and that dessert hadn’t been served. Still dripping with puss, Mia grabbed her robes and held them carefully as far from her body as she could. The girl swayed as she walked between the two house tables and made her way through the dungeon to the dorm room.

* * *

Leda bit her lip, watching the muggleborn leave the great hall. Rose Crabbe had been awful but there wasn’t anything which Leda could argue with. She had seen the mudbloods grades for herself, the papers were marked up. Most often the professor’s red ink covered more of the parchment than the original black. She sighed, there wasn’t much to do.

Restlessly she twirled a fork between her fingers until she felt the bench scraping against the stone floor underneath her. The great hall was emptying as all the students began to hurry to class. Leda groaned as she pulled her satchel over her shoulder but skipped to catch up with the other first year hufflepuffs as they began to plod down the stairs to the dungeons for potions. The corridor darkened as they stepped into the bowels of Hogwarts and the stained windows were replaced with dark tapestries. Cold radiated from the walls and inched through the student’s tightly wrapped cloaks.

The potions classroom was warm and the class let out an audible sigh as they sank into their seats ready to be done with classes for the day. Tendrils of steam wafted from the cauldrons which lined the wall, filling the room with a nauseating mix of colors and smells.

The last two classes for the day passed in a blur. Leda wrapped herself in the whirlwind of work as she floated from one classroom to the next. The other hufflepuff first years ignored her, only acknowledging her enough to roll their eyes when she insisted on shooting her hand in air for every question.

\-----

Leda read as she ate her dinner. Back at home in the manor, she was never allowed to bring books out from the library, her parents too worried that their precious pages would be ruined by the outside environment. But, even though Leda had to be careful of the dripping sauces, she easily maneuvered with a fork in one hand and an advanced copy of transfiguration in the other.

She was startled from her focus, when the clink of silverware hit the empty plate. Piles of desserts replaced the legs of ham and deep bowls of mashed potatoes. Leda sighed, propping the book closed with a finger still between the pages, she reached for a tart and stood up from the bench.

With everybody still eating in the Great Hall, the corridors of Hogwarts were silent and empty. The sound of chattering and laughing students faded as Leda walked by herself, up the stairs and towards the empty classroom. She smiled, running her hands along the stone wall and feeling every divot as she walked past. 

The door swung open easily. The creak which had signaled each entrance to the room at the beginning of the year had disappeared as Mia and Leda used the room more and more. Although dust still covered the desks, neither girl having bothered to clean fully, their own corners were clearly being used.

Leda sighed, Mia sat up straight against one wall, pouring over a book in her lap. Leda cursed, under her breath, as she realized the mudblood hadn’t been to dinner. She should have expected to see the other girl.

Leda ducked her head, scurrying to her spot on the floor. She avoided Mia’s stare, ashamed of how she had ignored her during lunch. She could feel the muggleborn’s eyes on her back, the glare hot and sharp against the dark fabric of her cloak. Leda grimaced.

“You’re awful.” Leda flinched. Mia’s harsh words hit her hard like flecks of hail on a blustery November night.

“What was I meant to do?” Leda shot back, immediately settling into her haunches and ready to defend herself.

“I was hexed! You should have stopped them.”

“What? And stood up to a table full of Slytherins.”

“Just Rose would have been enough. You are friends with them.” Mia raised an eyebrow, challenging Leda. The pureblood sank into the wall, slouching in a most unbecoming way. After spending the long winter break locked in her room, Leda had begun to grudgingly follow the slytherins around. She didn’t force them to speak with her, of course they ignored the girl as best they could, but any semblance of friendship would start to appease her parents.

“I might try to spend time with them. I’ve known them for years. But I can’t suddenly turn on my friends just to defend you.” Leda shrugged. The muggleborn was starting to ask for too much. She sighed seeing the familiar red rush up the other girl's cheeks, a screaming match was sure to follow.

“They called me a- a. They called me a you-know-what.” When at the beginning of the year, Mia had used the word ‘mudblood’ as though it was nothing, now suddenly she couldn’t get the syllables past her stuttering teeth. Leda rolled her eyes.

“A mudblood?” She asked, rolling her eyes. Why did all the non-purebloods have to be so sensitive?

“I can’t deal with you right now.” Mia slammed her book, hugging it close to her chest as she strode across the classroom to the far side.

“You can’t just run away from me.” Leda shouted. “Where can you possibly go?” On the inside she was kicking herself, not sure why she was trying to defend herself against such a simple accusation, or why she hadn’t stood up in the Great Hall in the first place. The precarious edge she walked with Mia as a friend was carefully balanced and Leda herself couldn’t quite understand everything she did.

The muggle born, Leda couldn’t argue that she wasn’t one, was kind and surprisingly warm after all the silence which Hogwarts castle offered in return. And yet their friendship was confined to the single, small classroom. Leda’s parents looked down on everyone who was both not a slytherin and a pureblood of the highest caliber. After the weeks stuck at home, lectured and punished by her parents, Leda had agreed to try and come back under the good graces of the other eligible students her age, but they refused to give her a second glance despite her hanging on their every word.

“I’ll ignore you. If you don’t want to be friends then that’s fine by me.” Mia didn’t open the door, Leda smiled at the small improvement. Instead the slytherin sunk to the floor and leaned against the door for support.

“Come on.” Leda pleaded, pushing herself forward on her butt across the floor so that she sat directly in front of Mia. “Don’t be like that. I’m sorry.”

“Fine. But you really better be.”

“I am really sorry. I wish there was more that I could do to help but I’m also stuck. You know how my parents are and how strict they can be.”

“I guess.” Mia responded. “Well, I’m working on herbology. Oh, hufflepuff of my dreams, what can you do to help.” Mia's grimace broke into a smile at the joke and finally looked up to meet Leda's eyes.

Leda smiled gratefully. Mia gave her a gentle out from the argument, letting them move on to a more normal and relaxed afternoon.

“What do you need to know?” Leda asked, settling in and getting comfortable leaning against the other girl’s shoulder as she peered over to look at her paper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi y'all,
> 
> Hope you liked this chapter. The girls seem to be working through their anger issues so that's super exciting.  
> I'll be doing some clean up of the already written chapters at some point this week. Nothing in the content will change but I'm going to try and fix the style so that every chapter is the same. I realized that I'm being super inconsistent with scene breaks and that sort of thing so I'll and make everything more understandable. I think I might also change the chapter titles because I want to make them more cohesive.
> 
> Let me know what you think of the story so far!
> 
> Lots o' Love,  
> Me


	11. Year 1 June: Summer Holidays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi Y'all,
> 
> Thanks for reading this far into the fic. I know I said I would clean up the fic last week but turns out I didn't have time. I'm actually uploading this a bit late (so sorry for the typos if I didn't catch any in time) but hopefully I'll have a little more time now that I'm on break.
> 
> Lot's O' Love,  
> Me

First the books and papers, then Leda's robes disappeared into the trunk at the end of her bed. The first year of Hogwarts had come and gone. Besides her grades, Leda had nothing to show for the months she’d spent away from home.

Leda listened to the other hufflepuffs, the girls laughing and joking across the room. She didn't mind, she was caught in her own thoughts. It seemed as though all the students had decided to put off packing as long as possible. The summer would be spent with her parent's manor, back in her old room which had become a prison during the winter break.

All the letters Leda had gotten from her family during the school year weren’t packed yet. The five rolls of parchments still sat in a pile on her bed side table. The girl clenched her fists, considering them for a moment. Sighing, she jumped onto the still made bed and swung the curtains close with a simple swish of her wand. Pulling the rolls closer to herself she began to read the familiar script.

She didn’t need to look at the paper to know what they said. Through her teary eyes which made reading nearly impossible anyways, Leda could still understand each word. With each read, the letters only felt more distant and cold, no note of family between parents and their daughter.

Each letter only spoke of an absolutely necessary need. The need for Leda to return home, the need for her to speed time with her family and others who were fitting to her rank. Leda rolled her eyes. She might not have spent time with Rose Crabbe and the other Slytherins, but if coaxed under veritasium, Leda could respond she had friends in Slytherin. Her parents would never know that her entire year had been spent at the side of a muggle born.

Mia must also be packing, throwing her slytherin uniform in a trunk in the slytherin dorms, where Leda should have been spending her time. Leda closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“If you’re staying in England for the summer, I’m sure my parents would allow us to spend time together.” Nymphadora’s voice drifted through the gap in the curtains, startling Leda enough to open her eyes.

The other Hufflepuffs must have forgotten she was in the room, but even so the words shot like a bullet through her body. Leda had spent a year at Hogwarts, what must have been the most amazing time in her life as she cast spells and lived with other people her age, but instead it had been miserable. 

Mia was kind, but she was no match for the friendships which had blossomed around Leda in her own dorm room. The other Hufflepuffs were always together, constantly leaning against each other as they ate, completing homework or even just lounging together in the common room. Leda had nothing like that. She and Mia sat beside each other, but in silence, barely acknowledging each other’s presence. And outside of their shared classroom, Leda didn’t dare look in the other girl’s direction.

Leda drew back the curtains, the metal hooks clinking against each other as they rattled at the end of the bed. Storming out with a bitter scowl on her face, Leda began to throw everything into the trunk, burying her parents letters at the very bottom.

* * *

Mia tucked her knees under her skirt, pulling herself close and small as she watched Hogwarts castle grow small in the distance and the train pull away from the station. Like all the previous train rides, she was alone and the feeling was not unexpected. She sighed, picking at her uniform, it would be the last time she wore it until it was unpacked at the end of summer.

She grumbled to herself, why had she ever thought that Leda would join her on the train. They weren’t friends, only acquaintances pushed together by the happenstance of being alone. Just being together wasn’t enough to form a friendship. Mia looked to her suitcase, the blue plastic so different from everyone else’s in her dorm. There were books inside, something to do and read while on the journey home. But Mia was done with magic, she didn’t need more of the prejudice and hurt now, now that she had left behind the castle with the judging Slytherins and arrogant Gryffindors. 

The compartment door banged open, Leda appeared out of breath and harried looking. A quick quirk of her eyebrow, an unasked question that she was allowed to join. The pureblooded Hufflepuff sat down in the seat opposite Mia.

“Sorry, I had to sit with the Slytherins for a moment.”Leda said. Mia smiled wryly, she had nodded letting the other girl sit down but now she wasn’t so sure that she should have. She was also a Slytherin, of course not one devoted to her house, but a green tie still hung around her neck. Did Leda not think of her as a slytherin? What did the pureblood girl think of her? Mia brushed the thought aside, she was in the compartment now, the worrying could be put off for a couple more hours until the long expanse of free summer months stretched out.

“What did they say?” She asked curiously instead.

“Not much, just talking about who would have the best vacation. One upping each other for how far one can travel.” Leda shrugged as though the conversation really could not have been more boring. Mia, who had never traveled further than a hundred kilometers from her home in the west of England, leaned forward.

“And where are you going?”

“My parents haven’t said. I think I’ll be forced to live with my grandmother, learn all about the traditions of being a Travers, while they go off and have fun with my brother.” Leda’s smile fell, she’d done her best to avoid thinking about the summer months, hoping that if she ignored them hard enough then they would do the same for her. No such luck.

Summer vacation was all that people could think about, the only thought on their minds for the last week of school. Leda had heard the whispers of excitement as she walked through the halls and across the grounds. With nothing better to do, once the exams were over for good and only the seventh and fifth year students had tests left to take, the younger kids had set their sights on more exciting adventures.

“Where is your grandmother?” Mia asked eagerly, disrupting Leda’s thoughts when she noticed that the other girl wasn’t going to elaborate further. 

“She’s in France, most of the purebloods move there once they get tired of working for the ministry.”

“I’m going to be home the whole time. I wish I could travel like you do.” Mia crossed her arms looking out the window again as a silence fell over their compartment. The Hogwarts Express was passing thickly planted fields of corn, the rolling hills covered in perfectly straight lines. A house wooshed by in a blink of an eye, the red roof the only signifier that something was different against the landscape of green.

“I can’t believe that muggles managed that.” Leda said in awe, finally breaking the awkward silence.

“Well they have tractors and stuff.” Mia shrugged, not impressed. The purebloods always thought so much better of themselves, sure that magic was the solution to every problem a person could face. They never paused to consider that muggles had survived just as long, and without the help of a flimsy wand. Muggles had discovered the secrets to fueling cars which travelled faster than a broomstick and electric lights which didn’t flicker in the wind.

“A tractor?” Leda rolled the word over her tongue, looking at Mia for help.

“A tractor, like a car or train. It drives through a field and makes the lines without the farmers haven’t to do much.” She rolled her eyes, of course Leda would be clueless.

“Like a carriage?” Leda asked.

“No, it moves on it’s own. No horses or anything.”

“What, how?”

“Just forget it.” Mia said, waving her hand. Leda never needed to interact with muggles, her world with the rest of the purebloods was so far removed from anything which Mia would face over the summer.

“I think it’s admirable that muggles have tried so hard.” Leda said, still smiling, not having understood a single thing about their lives.

“Muggles have done more than us wizards.” Mia couldn’t hold herself back from picking an argument. Leda had been self righteous for the whole train ride, pitying herself for not being able to travel even though she was still going to France, Mia’s own family would never be able to afford such an extravagant trip. The airfare alone would have put them under. But then wizards had it easy, broomsticks, apparition and floo powder to get them anywhere in the world in just the blink of an eye. “How do we get our food? Someone else likes a house elf plants it then a quick spell and it’s all grown?” Mia joked.

Leda blushed and Mia nearly threw up her hands, she had been right. Of course it wasn’t that shocking because the whole wizarding world seemed to hate lifting a finger to do anything. They even had a spell to summon objects without getting up from their chair, Mia had seen it used by the upper level students in the common room as they studied.

“Well we don’t need to. Just because the muggles have to grovel at the earth for food doesn’t mean that we must do the same.” Leda bit back, the tension in the compartment rose, both girls clenching their fists and jaws as they sized each other up.

“The muggles don’t grovel on the earth. They’ve invented the most incredible stuff- without magic” Mia added.

The silence fell over both girls, they sat opposite each other, their hands crossed across their chests and both frowning as they stared out the window at the passing scenery. The countryside slowly shifted from the empty fields to small towns, and then finally the houses began to grow as the Hogwarts Express passed through London suburbs. The train passed into the depths of the underground, nothing more visible as it crossed under the city proper.

“I’m sorry I yelled.” Mia mumbled, looking back towards the Hufflepuff.

“It’s alright.” She responded in turn, smiling softly. Now that the girls could see into each other’s faces, Mia noticed the tear tracks which had begun to flow down Leda’s cheeks. She sighed, Mia had gotten angry for no reason. The stress of returning home had piled on her ever since the last class of the first year had been dismissed, and the girl cringed as she thought of the misery she had put the pureblood through, because she wasn’t able to control her own emotions.

Who knew what Leda was going through? She could be arrogant and distant, but she was a girl just the same age as Mia. There was always more to her life story. The eye contact between the two girls held, neither one wanting to be the first to break it. But as the train left the darkness of the tunnels they both jumped from their seats.

“I’ll miss you.”

“You’ll have a great summer.” Mia and Leda said in unison, giggling as they realized they had spoken over each other. They fell into each other’s arms, relaxing into the comforting feeling of another person’s warmth.

“I really do think your summer will be great.” Mia said earnestly, whispering into Leda’s ear.

“Thank you.” Leda whispered back. Mia reached up to the luggage compartment, pulled down her suitcase and stepped off the train, never once looking back.

\-----

“My honey bear!” Mia’s mother shouted, catching the girl in her arms as Mia ran towards her. “Oh how we’ve missed you.”

Mia smiled, she could feel the pressure of both her parents holding her tight, as though they would never let her leave again. Richard pattered her head, cupping it gently as he pulled her even closer to the pair of them.

“You’ll have to tell us everything.” He said as he pulled away and held Mia at arm’s distance away. “You’ve grown so much.”

“Let me take your bag.” Penelope said, leading the way through an archway and back into the muggle world and King’s Cross Station. “I’ll never get used to that.” Mia saw her mother shiver, as though shaking off a coat of cold water, she’d also felt the trickle of magic walking through the portal but welcomed it like a familiar friend.

She hummed, agreeing, but glanced away to hide the faint frown which creeped up her cheeks. After spending the past months away at a magical boarding school she had grown used to the constant use of spells and the extraordinary things which could happen. Would Mia expect food to appear on her plate at the dining room table, would she be surprised to see a photo stuck in place? She dismissed the thought.

The purebloods could look down on muggles and their world, but they never dared enter it on their own. Mia however was raised a muggle, she could act like a witch but by nurture she was a muggle and that would never leave her. 

With only one trunk with her from school, the family was on the road in a moment, twisting through the London streets and heading back home for a blissful summer in their small village.

“So, Mia, tell me about school. What did you learn?” Penelope craned her neck to reach around her seat and face her daughter as best she could in the cramped space of the car.

“It was okay.” Mia shrugged, unsure what her parents could understand from the stories she told. During christmas break she had tried to revel them with stories of exploding potions and hexes in the hallways but they only frowned, worried for the safety of their daughter. “I guess transfiguration is pretty cool. I can change a bird into a cup.”

“Oh that’s horrible.” Mia’s mother shivered. “That poor bird.”

“We change it back.” Mia piped up, she didn’t know why she defended Hogwarts. When at the school herself she could despise it just as much, if not more, than her parents did. But she also didn’t want to worry them. Her parents were already strict and protective as it was when they didn’t know about the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor who had been fired for defending himself against one to many students and sending them to the hospital wing for weeks at a time.

“What about your friends?” Richard asked, grimacing to his wife as he tried to shift the conversation.

“Well, I guess Leda is very nice. You know the girl I sat with a lot at the beginning of the year.” Mia shuffled in her seat, scared to lie to her parents. For a moment she debated telling the truth, if her parents knew how miserable the castle made her then maybe they would allow her to leave the wizarding world, but they had already spent so much into allowing her to go. And Mia didn’t want to put any unnecessary worry on them. “Then there are other people.” She shrugged non committedly.

“That’s lovely dear.” Her mother said. “Did you all sit together on the train? We can invite your friends over for some of the holiday.”

“We did sit together. I’m actually really tired from that, can I sleep.” Mia desperately looked for something to distract her parents as she thought of more lies. She couldn’t tell her parents about the bullying and about the harassment, they thought she could stand up for herself. The wizarding world was awful, but she would have to broach the subject carefully about never returning. In the meantime, the next few months she would be in the muggle world with her muggle friends. 

“Yes, of course sweetheart. We’ll be home in an hour.”

Already she snuggled into the seat of the blue car from her childhood, the seat already imprinted with the shape of her curled form. And over the center console, her parents held hands, whispering so that Mia could fall asleep behind them.

Mia smiled, glad to be back home in the world where she truly belonged.


End file.
